SEATTLE  CHILDREN 

IN 

SCHOOL  AND  IN  INDUSTRY 

WITH 

RECOMMENDATIONS  FOB  INCREASING  THE  EFFICIENCY 
OF  THE  SCHOOL  SYSTEM  AND  FOR  DECREASING 
THE  SOCIAL  AND  ECONOMIC  WASTE  INCI- 
DENT TO  THE  EMPLOYMENT  OF 
CHILDREN  14  to  18  YEARS 
OF  AGE 


BY 

Anna  Y.  Reed,  Ph.  D. 


Published   by   the  Board  of  School   Directors 

Seattle,  Washington 

January,    1915 


printers 
Lowman  &  Hanford  Co. 

SEATTLE,  WASH. 


CONTENTS. 


Pa.?e 

Letters  of  Transmittal 5-8 

Facts  About  Seattle 9-11 

Sources  of  Information  and  Methods  of  Investigation....     12-13 

Section  I.— Children  Who  Left  School,  1913-1914 15-24 

Number  of  Children  Who  Left 17 

Reasons  for  Leaving 18-20 

First  Positions  20-22 

Changes  in  Position 22-23 

Initial  Wage 23 

Periods  of  Unemployment 23-24 

Section  II. — School  Leaving  and  Labor  Permits 25-40 

Classification  of  Permits 27-29 

Influence  of  Nationality 30 

Size  of  Families  and  Head  of  Family '        31 

Retardation  of  Working  Children 31-33 

Occupation  of  Parents 33 

Economic  Status  of  Family 34-40 

(1)  School  Leaving  Permits  and 
Economic  Pressure  34-38 

(2)  Labor  Permits  and  Economic 
Pressure  38-40 

Section  III. — Educational  and  Occupational  Experience 
of  Boys  and  Girls  up  to  21  Years  Who  Have 

Been  Out  of  School  from  One  to  Five  Years 41-77 

Reasons  for  Leaving 43-44 

Number  of  Positions 45 

Retardation    46-47 

First  Positions  and  Changes  in  Positions 47-59 

Handicaps  in  Securing  Promotions 59 

Suggestions  for  the  School  System 59-61 

Supplemental  Education  61-73 

Initial  and  Final  Wage - 73-77 

Section  IV. — Minimum  Wage  and  Vocational  Efficiency     78-90 

Section  V. — State  School  and  Child  Labor  Laws  and  the 

Making  of  Unemployables 91-95 

Section  VI. — Conclusions  and  Recommendations 96-103 

362138 


LIST  OF  TABLES. 


Table  I. 

<< 

II. 

" 

III. 

(< 

IV. 

" 

V. 

" 

VI. 

VII. 

Table  VIII. 

<< 

IX. 

" 

X. 

" 

XI. 

" 

XII. 

<( 

XIII. 

« 

XIV. 

<«  i 

XV. 

" 

XVI. 

<< 

XVII. 

<« 

XVIII. 

\„ 

XIX. 

<( 

XX. 

<< 

XXI. 

<« 

XXII. 

*    Table  XXIII. 

" 

XXIV. 

<« 

XXV. 

" 

XXVI. 

" 

XXVII. 

<< 

XXVIII. 

«< 

XXIX. 

" 

XXX. 

" 

XXXI. 

<« 

XXXII. 

<i 

XXXIII. 

<< 

XXXIV. 

" 

XXXV. 

u 

XXXVI. 

l< 

XXXVII. 

SECTION  I. 

Page 

Children  Leaving  School  1913-1914 17 

Reasons  for  Leaving  School 18 

First  Positions — Boys  21 

First  Positions — Girls  21 

Number  of  Positions 23 

Wage  Table  23 

Periods  of  Unemployment 24 

SECTION  II. 

Permits    1913-1914 29 

Nationality  of  Permit  Children 30 

Nmmber  in  Family  and  Head  of  Family 31 

Retardation  of  Working  Children — Boys 31 

Retardation  of  Working  Children— Girls 32 

Summary  of  Age  and  Grade  on  Receiving 

Permit  32 

Summary  of  Retardation 32 

Occupation  of  Fathers 33 

Family  Resources — School  Leaving  Permits  35 
Child's   Wage   in   Relation   to   Resources — 

School  Leaving  Permits 35 

Rent  in  Relation  to  Resources — School  Leav- 
ing Permits   36 

Family  Resources — Labor  Permits 38 

Child's   Wage   in   Relation   to   Resources — 

Labor  Permits  38 

Rent  in  Relation  to  Resources — Labor  Per- 
mits      39 

Summary  of  Total  Permits 39 

SECTION  III. 

Reasons     for     School     Leaving — Industrial 

Group  43 

Number  of  Years  Since  Leaving  and  Num- 
ber of  Positions „ 45 

Summary  of  Positions 45 

Age,  Grade  and  Retardation — Girls 46 

Age,  Grade  and  Retardation — Boys 46 

Summary  of  Age  and  Grade 46 

Summary  of  Retardation 46 

First  Positions  and  School  Grade — Boys 47 

First  Positions  and  School  Grade — Girls 47 

Changes  in  Position — Boys 48 

Changes  in  Position— Girls 49 

Relation  of  Evening  Study  to  Day  Employ- 
ment— Women  70 

Relation  of  Evening  Study  to  Day  Employ- 
ment— Men  71 

Wage  Table — Industrial  Group — Girls 75 

Wage  Table — Industrial  Group — Boys 76 


LETTER  OF  TRANSMITTAL  TO  THE 
BOARD  OF  DIRECTORS. 

January  15,  1915. 
Gentlemen : 

There  are  two  questions,  not  new  but  often  recur- 
ring, which  had  become  so  persistent  that  about  two 
years  ago  I  began  to  discuss  means  of  finding  an 
answer  to  them.  First,  "What  becomes  of  boys  and 
girls  who  leave  school  early,  why  do  they  leave,  in 
what  do  they  engage,  and  with  what  success?"  and, 
second,  "How  can  the  public  school  serve  this  class  of 
pupils  better  without  neglecting  the  interests  of  those 
who  remain?"  An  answer  founded  upon  opinion  or 
based  upon  superficial  observation  in  a  problem  so 
grave,  not  only  has  little  value,  but  may  be  very  mis- 
leading. Therefore,  an  investigation  to  elicit  the  facts 
in  the  problem  and  a  study  of  the  facts  in  their  several 
relations  appeared  to  be  needful. 

Obviously  the  requirements  for  the  conduct  of  such 
an  investigation  center  in  the  breadth  of  view,  in- 
telligent interest  and  scientific  training  of  the  in- 
vestigator. For  one  to  be  interested  in  humanity  and 
to  have  knowledge  of  the  educational  or  industrial 
field,  only  partially  covers  the  requirement.  To  this 
must  be  added  an  instinct  for  fact  getting,  keenness  of 
discrimination,  and  training  and  aptitude  in  the  use 
of  scientific  methods  of  investigation. 

Fortunately  for  us,  Mrs.  J.  A.  Reed,  a  practical 
sociologist,  proved  as  an  investigator  in  state  work, 
was  available  for  the  conduct  of  the  inquiry  and  she, 
under  your  auspices,  has  carried  on  the  investigation 
as  a  voluntary  service. 

Mrs.  Reed's  investigation  and  study  of  the  condi 
tions  involved  is  now  completed  and  submitted  here- 
with.    That  this   study  will   help   to  set   us   on   the 

5 


Seattle  Children  in  School  and  in  Industry. 


way  to  ministering  more  suitably  to  boys  and  girls 
while  in  school  I  have  no  doubt,  and  it  puts  very 
plainly  before  us  another  duty  not  yet  adequately 
met  by  any  organization  or  body  of  people. 

Each  year  finds  many  children  between  the  ages 
of  fourteen  and  eighteen  years  leaving  our  public 
school  system  and  entering  industry  with  little  guid- 
ance or  supervision  of  any  kind,  and  there  are  few 
to  realize  that  it  is  often  a  child's  "first  job"  which 
makes  or  mars  his  future.  Gradually  it  is  dawning 
upon  the  observant  portion  of  the  public  that  the 
most  critical  time  in  the  child's  school  life  is  the 
day  on  which  he  leaves  it.  Then,  for  the  first  time, 
he  is  entirely  released  from  discipline;  then,  for  the 
first  time,  with  little  help  and  no  experience,  he  at- 
tempts to  adjust  himself  to  new  conditions  and  sur- 
roundings, and,  immature  of  mind  and  will  and  un- 
developed in  judgment,  he  is  forced  to  grapple  with 
the  great  and  varied  problems  which  puzzle  the  mind 
of  the  nation.  Moreover,  the  theory  that  the  public 
schools  exist  for  children  who  are  in  attendance, 
whether  attendance  ceases  at  fourteen  or  eighteen 
years,  whether  in  the  grammar  grades  or  in  the 
high  schools,  is  gradually  giving  place  to  the  belief 
that  there  are  educational  problems  within  the  shop 
as  well  as  within  the  school,  and  that  the  protection 
and  supervision  of  the  educator  should  follow  the 
working  child  into  his  new  surroundings  and  help 
in  the  solution  of  the  problems  involved  in  his  daily 
life.  Expression  of  this  change  in  sentiment  as  to 
the  function  of  the  public  school  is  found  in  the  de- 
mand for  vocational  surveys  which  seek  to  answer 
the  question,  "Shall  the  educator  follow  the  young 
wage  earner  into  industry  and  shall  the  curriculum 
of  the  public  schools  be  expanded  to  include  the  edu- 
cational problems  of  industry?" 

With  the  hope  that  we  may  be  enabled  to  find  a 
way  by  which  the  evident  need  of  vocational  guidance 


Seattle  Children  in  School  and  in  Industry.  7 

may  be  met  through  the  instrumentality  of  the  school 
system,  I  submit  this  suggestive  study  and  recom- 
mend that  the  report  be  published. 

Kespectfully  submitted, 

Frank  B.  Cooper, 
Superintendent  of  Schools. 

To  the  Board  of  Directors, 

Seattle  School  District  No.  1. 


LETTER  OF  TRANSMITTAL  TO  THE 
SUPERINTENDENT. 

November  24,  1914. 
Sir: 

According  to  your  instructions,  an  endeavor  has 
been  made  to  study  and  interpret  the  vocational 
problems  involved  in  education  and  the  educational 
problems  involved  in  industry  for  the  purpose  of 
ascertaining  what  can  be  done  to  establish  a  closer 
and  more  profitable  relation  between  our  Public  School 
System  and  the  business  interests  of  our  city. 

The  investigation  proper  covers  a  period  of  twelve 
months,  September  1913,  to  September  1914.  An- 
other two  months  have  been  necessary  for  the  classi- 
fication and  presentation  of  the  results. 

No  paid  workers  have  been  employed  except  for  the 
month  of  August,  when  salary  to  the  extent  of  $90 
was  allowed  in  order  to  complete  home  visitation. 
Lack  of  assistant  investigators  has  been  both  an  ad- 
vantage and  a  disadvantage.  On  the  one  hand,  it 
has  delayed  the  completion  of  the  report  and  has 
forced  the  investigator  to  act  entirely  upon  her  own 
initiative,  denying  her,  in  many  instances,  the  valu- 
able suggestions  which  are  the  result  of  varied  view- 
points. On  the  other  hand,  it  has  meant  uniformity 
in  standards  of  investigation  and  the  interpretation 


8  Seattle  Children  in  School  and  in  Industry. 

of  facts  in  the  light  of  first-hand  information,  which 
is  impossible  when  one  corps  of  workers  collects  ma- 
terial and  another  interprets  it.  Personally,  I  do 
not  regret  lack  of  assistance  except  in  so  far  as  it 
may  detract  from  the  value  of  the  report,  but  rather 
I  am  thankful  for  the  opportunity  to  study  this  in- 
teresting subject,  in  all  its  phases,  first  hand.  In- 
crease in  knowledge  of  educational  and  occupational 
life  in  Seattle,  and  in  understanding  of  related  sub- 
jects, has  more  than  compensated  me  for  the  ex- 
penditure of  time  and  effort. 

To  those  who  have  welcomed  us  in  their  homes, 
to  those  who  have  been  associated  with  us  as  vol- 
unteers and  to  the  employers  and  employees  of  Seattle 
who  have  co-operated  with  us  in  this  public  service, 
I  desire  to  express  my  appreciation  and  thanks.  I 
am  pleased  also  to  acknowledge  the  courtesies  shown 
me  by  the  teaching  corps  and  by  the  office  force  with 
which  I  have  been  associated.  Both  have  contrib- 
uted in  no  small  degree  to  the  pleasure  of  this  un- 
dertaking and  to  whatever  degree  of  success  it  may 
merit. 

I  thank  you,  also,  and  the  Board  of  Education  for 
your  co-operation  and  encouragement  and  for  the 
patience  with  which  you  have  awaited  the  completion 
of  this  task. 

Special  mention  for  valuable  assistance  is  due  Su- 
perintendent Quigley  and  Chief  Attendance  Officer 
Ketchum,  both  of  whom  have  given  freely  of  their 
time  and  advice.  Should  any  benefit  come  to  our 
Seattle  children  through  the  medium  of  this  investi- 
gation, I  trust  that  these  two  officials,  with  each  and 
every  person  who  has  assisted,  may  feel  that  it  is 
largely  due  to  his,  or  her,  interest  and  co-operation. 
Respectfully  submitted, 

Anna  Y.  Reed. 
To  Mr.  Frank  B.  Cooper, 

Superintendent  of  Public  Schools. 


Seattle  Children  in  School  and  in  Industry. 


FACTS  ABOUT  SEATTLE. 

Seattle,  the  largest  city  in  the  State  of  Washington 
and  the  metropolis  of  the  Pacific  Northwest,  is  lo- 
cated on  Puget  Sound,  about  one  hundred  twen- 
ty-five miles,  by  water,  from  the  Pacific  Ocean,  in 
nearly  the  center  of  what  is  known  as  the  Puget 
Sound  country. 

The  climate  is  equable  with  no  extremes  of  heat  or 
cold.  The  summers  are  cool  and  the  winters  are 
mild,  with  very  little  snow,  if  any,  except  in  the 
nearby  mountains.  The  average  temperature  of  win- 
ter is  40  degrees,  while  that  of  summer  is  62  de- 
grees. The  average  yearly  rainfall  amounts  to  34.62 
inches. 

Seattle  was  first  settled  by  the  whites  in  1852.  In 
1853  it  was  laid  out  as  a  town  and  named  Seattle 
after  a  friendly  Indian  chief.  It  became  an  incorpo- 
rated town  in  1865  and  was  re-incorporated  in  1869. 

The  United  States  census  for  1900  gave  the  city  a 
population  of  80,671,  while  that  of  1910  gave  the 
population  as  237,194,  showing  an  increase  of  194 
per  cent  for  the  decade,  while  the  census  for  the  state 
at  large  in  1910  showed  an  increase  of  120  per  cent 
over  the  census  for  1900.  The  estimate  of  the  United 
States  Census  Bureau  July  1,  1914,  gave  the  popula- 
tion of  the  city  as  313,029,  while  the  Postal  Census  of 
October  1914,  estimated  it  at  329,704. 

The  population  of  1910,  according  to  sex,  consisted 
of  136,773  males  and  100,421  females.  The  number 
of  illiterates  was  2,217,  of  which  1,373  were  illiterate 
males  of  voting  age.  Those  of  native  white  parentage 
numbered  105,784,  those  of  foreign  born  white  par- 
entage 60,835,  the  balance  being  Chinese,  Japanese, 
Indians,  negroes,  etc. 


10  Seattle  Children  in  School  and  in  Industry. 


The  statistics  for  1910  show  that  102,526  males 
out  of  a  population  of  120,532  over  10  years  of  age 
were  engaged  in  gainful  occupations;  19,759  females 
out  of  a  population  of  84,496  over  10  years  of  age 
were  likewise  engaged  in  gainful  occupations. 

Seattle  is  primarily  a  commercial  and  distributing 
center.  Its  seven  trans-continental  railroads  and  fifty- 
eight  steamship  lines  furnish  unexcelled  transporta- 
tion facilities  both  by  rail  and  water  and  have  estab- 
lished the  city  as  the  gateway  to  Alaska  and  the 
Orient.  The  completion  of  the  navigable  Government 
Canal  connecting  the  fresh  water  lakes,  Lake  Union 
and  Lake  Washington,  with  Elliott  Bay,  will  increase 
the  water-frontage  of  the  city  to  more  than  one  hun- 
dred forty  miles,  thus  insuring  ample  anchorage  and 
dockage  facilities  for  a  fast  growing  world-wide  com- 
merce. 

The  reasons  are  numerous  why  Seattle  should  be- 
come an  important  manufacturing  and  industrial 
center.  The  large  quantities  of  raw  material,  the 
exceptional  transportation  facilities,  the  abundance 
of  material  for  building  purposes,  the  nearby  exten- 
sive coal  deposits,  the  adjacent  water  power,  and  the 
ideal  sites  available  for  industrial  concerns,  seem  to 
insure  the  trend  of  the  city's  activity.  In  1904  the 
manufacturing  concerns  were  467  in  number  with  a 
total  annual  product  amounting  in  value  to  $25,- 
460,000.  Five  years  later  (1909)  the  number  of  plants 
had  increased  to  751,  with  a  total  annual  product 
valued  at  $50,569,198. 

During  the  past  ten  years  the  city  has  spent  $5,440,- 
000  in  securing  and  maintaining  28  public  parks  which 
have  an  aggregate  area  of  more  than  1,800  acres,  22 
playgrounds  for  children  and  more  than  30  miles  of 
scenic  driveways.  In  1913  the  people  of  King  County 
authorized  the  expenditure  of  $3,000,000  in  the  con- 


Seattle  Children  in  School  and  in  Industry.  11 

struction  of  permanent  roads  in  the  county  outside  of 
Seattle. 

Seattle's  public  day  schools  had  an  enrollment  of 
35,527  pupils  for  the  year  of  1914,  of  which  6,066 
were  enrolled  in  the  high  schools.  The  number  of 
high  school  graduates  in  1914  was  739,  41  per  cent 
of  which  were  boys.  More  than  6,400  pupils  were 
enrolled  in  the  free  public  evening  schools  of  the  city 
during  the  year  of  1914,  in  which  courses  are  offered 
the  same  as  in  day  schools.  The  building  equipment 
of  the  school  system  consists  of  six  high  schools  and 
seventy  grade  schools,  which  have  a  total  appraised 
value  of  over  |6,394,000.  More  than  1,100  teachers 
are  required  in  the  day  schools. 

School  attendance  is  compulsory.  All  text-books 
and  supplies  are  furnished  free  to  pupils. 

In  addition  to  the  public  school  system  there  are 
private  and  denominational  schools  and  business  col- 
leges. The  Y.  M.  C.  A.  offers  opportunities  for  work 
in  business,  trade,  mechanical  and  commercial  courses, 
accommodating  about  1,000  students  per  term. 

Within  the  city  limits,  on  a  campus  of  355  acres, 
is  located  the  State  University  of  Washington.  For 
the  year  1914  the  enrollment  was  3,340  students. 
The  faculty  numbered  177  instructors.  The  Univer- 
sity is  amply  endowed  by  the  State  and  owns  valu- 
able property  in  the  city's  business  center. 


12  Seattle  Children  in  School  and  in  Industry). 


SOURCES  OF  INFORMATION  AND 
METHODS  OF  INVESTIGATION. 

The  following  methods  have  been  employed  in  con- 
ducting the  investigation  and  in  securing  and  classi- 
fying the  information  upon  which  conclusions  and 
recommendations  are  based: 

Four  schedules  were  used  for  the  purpose  of  re- 
cording the  isolated  facts.  Schedule  No.  1  formed 
the  basis  of  the  investigation.  It  was  filled  out  by 
teachers,  or  by  the  principal  in  each  school  for  each 
child  in  the  grammar  school  or  high  school  who 
dropped  out  during  the  year  1913-14.  From  these 
schedules  we  secured  the  name,  age,  nationality,  resi- 
dence and  school  rating  of  each  child,  as  well  as  the 
teacher's  opinion  regarding  the  cause  of  leaving. 

With  this  information  as  a  guide,  personal  visits 
were  made  to  919  Seattle  homes.  During  these  visits 
information  was  secured  for  either  or  both  Schedules 
II  and  III.  Schedule  II  was  used  for  children  who 
had  left  school  during  1913-14  only.  The  facts  cov- 
ered were  the  economic  and  educational  status  of  the 
family,  the  parents'  reason  for  allowing  children  to 
leave  school;  their  point  of  view  as  to  the  industrial 
outlook  and  their  idea  as  to  home  and  school  respon- 
sibility for  the  success  of  their  children,  both  as  in- 
dividual workers  in  industry  and  as  collective  mem- 
bers of  society.  Such  working  experience  as  the 
child  might  have  had  either  before  or  after  leaving 
school  was  also  recorded.  Schedule  III  contained 
the  record  of  all  boys  and  girls  in  the  same  or  in 
other  homes  who  had  been  out  of  the  Seattle  Public 
Schools  one  or  more  years.  The  primary  object  of  this 
schedule  was  to  ascertain  the  experience  and  secure 
the  advice  of  workers  who  had  been  out  of  school 
long  enough  and  who  had  acquired  sufficient  experi- 
ence to  test  their  own  economic  and  social  value  and 


Seattle  Children  in  School  and  in  Industry.  13 

the  value  of  the  education  which  they  had  secured 
prior  to  entering  industry.  The  questionnaire  in- 
cluded their  reasons  for  leaving  school  and  their 
present  opinion  as  to  the  wisdom  of  so  doing;  the 
various  occupations  entered  and  their  success  or  fail- 
ure in  each,  and  how  far  better  preparation  might 
have  been  secured  either  through  their  own  or  through 
school  initiative. 

Schedule  IV  contained  the  employer's  estimate  of 
the  value  of  the  child  in  industry  and  such  sugges- 
tions as  employers  were  able  and  willing  to  make 
for  greater  efficiency  in  preparing  the  young  for  busi- 
ness life. 

In  classifying  this  material  one  schedule  has  been 
checked  by  the  others  and  every  effort  has  been  made 
to  verify  facts  before  accepting  them  as  such.  In 
presenting  conclusions  and  in  offering  tabulation  of 
facts  to  support  the  same,  the  sources  of  information 
have  been  indicated  by  reference  to  schedule  numbers. 

Detailed  studies  of  each  occupation  which  absorbs 
a  sufficient  number  of  young  wage  earners  to  warrant 
the  undertaking  are  contemplated.  For  this  reason 
occupational  information  is  not  included  in  this  re- 
port. 


SECTION  I. 
Children  Who  Left  School,   1913-1914. 


SECTION  I. 

Children  Who  Left  School,    1913-1914. 

From  Schedule  I  we „  received  the  names  of  402 
pupils  who  had  left  the  grammar  schools  and  822 
pupils  who  had  left  the  high  schools  during  1913-14. 
We  should  be  glad  to  state  that  such  numbers  in- 
cluded the  entire  list  of  pupils  leaving  school  during 
the  period  covered,  but  our  "check"  system  indicated 
a  number  of  instances  in  which  teachers  and  prin- 
cipals had  neglected  to  furnish  the  school  leaving  in- 
formation and  approximate  accuracy  only  can  be 
claimed. 

t'able  No.  1  offers  a  tabulation  of  the  school  leaving 
children  classified  along  the  following  lines:  (1)  as 
to  grammar  school  or  high  school,  and  (2)  without 
permits  or  with  permits  and  the  kind.* 

Table  I.     School  Leaving  1913-1914. 


School  Leaving 
Permits 

Labor 
Permits 

No 
Permit 

Grand 
Total 

Boys 

Girls 

Total 

Boys 

Girls 

Total 

Boys 

^  Girls 

Total 

Boys 

Girls 

Total 

Grades.. 

33 

30 

63 

22 

67 

89 

140 

110 

250 

195 

207 

402 

High 
School 

11 

27 

12 

1 

38 
12 
2 

171 
174 
116 
13 

138 
89 
56 
13 

309 
263 
172 
26 

182 

174 

117 

13 

165 
101 

347 

2d      « 

275 

3d      ■ 

1 

57       174 

4th    ■ 

13 

26 

Total... 

33 

30 

63 

34 

107 

141 

614 

406 

1020 

681 

543 

1224 

Table  II  classifies  the  reasons  why  1,224  children 
left  school  during  the  year.  The  final  tabulation  is 
based  upon  the  personal  opinion  of  the  investigator 
after  comparing  schedules  I,  II  and  III. 

*  The  State  Laws  relative  to  granting  labor  and  school  leaving  per- 
mits and  the  tabulation  of  the  various  kinds  of  permits  issued  by  the 
Seattle  Attendance  Department  are  discussed  under  Section  II.,  p.   27. 

17 


18 


Seattle  Children  in  School  and  in  Industry. 


Table  II. 

Reasons  Why  Children  Left  School. 

Reasons 

Grades 

High  Schools 

Grand  Totals 

Boys 

Girls 

Total 

Boys 

Girls 

Total 

Boys 

Girls 

Total 

7 

8 
11 
82 
31 

9 

30 
6 

1 

8 
7 
9 
5 

15 

11 

173 

45 

w. 

66 
6 

1 

25 

11 

24 

9 

91 
19 
132 
63 

42 
5 

62 
38 

133 
24 
194 
101 

98 
19 

223 
77 

7 

57 
8 
3 

84 
9 

68 
4 

24 

50 

16 

144 

69 

9 

76 
18 
2 

88 
10 
26 
5 
30 

148 

35    • 

3.  Economic  pressure 

91 
14 

7 

36 

367 
146 

16 

6.  Indifferent,  trouble,  dis- 

like  

7.  To  enter  other  schools . . . 

21 
8 
3 

67 

5 

53 

46 
12 

1 

80 
3 
17 

67 

20 

4 

147 
8 
70 

133 

26 

5 

9.  Not  pass,  too  large,  dis- 
couraged, misfit 

17 
4 

15 
4 

172 
19' 

94 

12.  Forced  by  parent 

9 

24 

30 

54 

54 

Totals 

195 

207 

402 

486 

336 

822 

681 

543 

1224 

Very  frequently  economic  pressure  or  ill  health  has 
been  the  reason  given  on  the  school  blanks,  while  visit 
to  the  home  and  conference  with  the  child  or  parent 
revealed  dissatisfaction  of  some  kind  with  the  school. 
On  the  other  hand,  several  instances  have  been  found 
where  parents  have  stated  that  children  were  not 
interested  and  did  not  care  to  continue  in  school, 
while  personal  interview  with  the  child  indicated 
strong  desire  for  further  education  had  the  parents 
been  willing. 

Illustrations. 

A's  mother  brought  her  to  the  office  to  secure  a 
labor  permit.  She  stated  that  A.  did  not  care  to  at- 
tend high  school  and  perf erred  to  go  to  work.  A. 
agreed  to  the  statement.  Interviewed  alone  at  a  later 
date,  A.  with  tears  in  her  eyes  said,  "I  was  just  per- 
fectly crazy  to  go  to  high  school,  but  my  step-father 
said  a  girl  fifteen  was  old  enough  to  earn  her  own 
living." 

B.  left  school  in  the  seventh  grade  at  15  years  of 
age.  The  reason  given  by  the  teacher  was  "economic 
pressure."  Personal  visitation  revealed  that  this  girl 
was  an   only  daughter   in   a  very  nice   home.     Her 


Seattle  Children  in  School  and  in  Industry.  19 

parents  were  heart-broken  to  have  her  leave  school 
with  a  seventh  grade  education,  but  she  had  failed  to 
be  promoted  three  semesters  in  succession  and  was  so 
large  that  she  was  ashamed  to  continue  in  the  gram- 
mar school. 

C,  age  14,  eighth  A,  marked  "economic  pressure," 
came  to  the  office  for  a  labor  permit.  In  the  course 
of  conversation  he  admitted  that  he  could  go  to  high 
school  if  he  desired  but  it  was  not  worth  while.  "I 
can't  say  the  schools  stand  specially  high  in  my  favor 
although  there  isn't  anything  special  against  them." 
Later,  "Some  kids  think  they  ought  to  get  a  good 
teacher  every  time,  but  I  don't.  I've  had  about  three 
good  ones  out  of  every  four  and  I  don't  make  any 
kick,  somebody's  got  to  have  the  poor  ones." 

D.,  age  19,  a  senior  in  the  high  school,  marked  "not 
interested,"  was  found  to  be  a  boy  who  was  paying 
his  own  way  and  had  been  forced  to  leave  high  school 
at  three  different  times  because  he  was  out  of  money. 
He  still  expects  to  graduate. 

More  than  one  instance  was  found  in  which  pupils 
dropped  out  because  they  could  not  dress  as  well  as 
others.  Parents  could  keep  them'  in  school  and  fur- 
nish the  necessities  and  they  were  anxious  to  go,  but 
would  not  do  so  and  feel  mortified  because  they  lacked 
the  clothing  and  spending  money  furnished  other 
children. 

Conclusions. 

In  the  grammar  school  173,  or  approximately  40 
per  cent,  left  because  of  economic  pressure  and  115,  or 
28  per  cent,  because  of  dissatisfaction  of  some  kind 
with  school.  These  are  the  two  main  factors  in  gram- 
mar school  leaving.  As  economic  pressure  is  a  rela- 
tive term,  and  as  about  30  per  cent  of  those  classified 
under  this  heading  admitted  that  they  disliked  school 
and  were   glad   to   be    relieved    of   attending,  we  are 


20  Seattle  Children  in  School  and  in  Industry. 

justified  in  assuming  that  "dissatisfaction"  is  an  even 
more  potent  factor  in  school  leaving  than  statistical 
tabulation  indicates. 

The  real  reasons  for  school  leaving  seemed  to  be 
less  understood  by  high  school  teachers  than  by  grade 
teachers.  Home  investigation  revealed  that  large  num- 
bers were  discouraged  and  feared  failure.  In  this  con- 
nection it  is  rather  interesting  to  note  that  of  the  total 
number,  347,  leaving  during  the  freshman  year,  92 
dropped  out  prior  to  October  15th  and  76  more  prior 
to  March  15th.  There  was  nothing  on  the  record  to 
indicate  what  percentage  of  the  76  were  pupils  enter- 
ing in  the  second  semester,  but  in  all  we  have  a  total 
of  168,  or  approximately  50  per  cent  who  dropped  out 
about  the  time  of  receiving  their  first  report.  The 
reason  for  leaving  assigned  by  the  teacher  was  in 
many  instances  either  "ill  health"  or  "economic  pres- 
sure," but  the  scholarship  rating  of  the  same  pupils 
by  the  same  teachers  was  "failure"  or  "unsatisfactory" 
in  101  out  of  the  168  cases.  Visitation  in  the  home 
confirmed  the  suspicion  that  the  scholarship  record  of 
the  pupil  was  better  understood  by  the  teacher  and 
was  more  nearly  in  harmony  with  the  child's  real  rea- 
son for  leaving  than  was  the  reason  offered  by  the 
teacher.  Of  the  275  who  left  during  the  sophomore 
year,  102  were  rated  as  failures  or  unsatisfactory;  of 
the  junior  year,  32  out  of  174,  and  of  the  senior  year, 
11  out  of  26.  Three  of  the  eleven  seniors  are  expecting 
to  try  again  and  still  hope  to  graduate. 

First  Positions  of  Those  Leaving  1918-1914. 

Tables  No.  III.  and  IV.  contain  tabulated  informa- 
tion regarding  the  lines  of  work  entered  by  grammar 
school  students.  Without  assistant  investigators  it 
was  impossible  to  carry  out  this  line  of  inquiry  for 
all  high  school  pupils.  Complete  occupational  infor- 
mation was  secured  from  but  138,  64  boys  and  74  girls. 
Many  pupils  leaving  the  high  school  have  not  entered 


Seattle  Children  in  School  and  in  Industry. 


21 


any   remunerative   line   of   work   and   do   not   expect 
to  do  so. 

Table  in.     First  Positions  1913-1914.      Boys. 


Occupation 

Grades 

High  School 

Total 

Percentage 

61 
39 

16 
17 
2 
11 

1 
1 
6 
1 
3 

24 
12 
18 
6 

85 
51 
34 
23 
2 
12 

2 
6 
1 
3 

37 

33  ' 

Department  stores  or  inside  messenger 
Offices 

20  . 
13 

Trades  . .              

9 

1 

5  " 

M 

1 

2 

H 

1 

Vi 

Vi 

37 

14 

Total 

195 

64 

259 

Table  IV.     First  Positions   1913-1914.     Girls. 


Occupation 

Grades 

High  School 

Total 

Percentage 

86 
25 
32 
20 
8 
4 

20 
24 

8 
8 
4 

106 
49 
40 
28 
12 
4 
10 
32 

38 

Office 

17  i 

14  • 

10 

Trade 

4 

1 

10 

4 

32 

11 

Total 

207 

74 

281 

Seattle  is  a  commercial  rather  than  a  manufacturing 
center  and  the  above  tables  indicate  very  clearly  that 
it  is  commercial  rather  than  factory  lines  which  ab- 
sorb the  young  worker.  Department  stores  claim 
approximately  38*  per  cent  of  the.  girls,  while  messen- 
ger or  delivery  service  claims  about  33  per  cent  of 
the  boys.  Factory  work,  largely  for  the  cracker  and 
candy  companies,  employs  14  per  cent  of  the  girls, 
and  offices  take  another  17  per  cent.  Nine  per  cent 
of  the  boys  and  4  per  cent  of  the  girls  entered  upon 
apprenticeship  in  skilled  trades.    We  have  found  noth- 


*  All    percentages    are    approximate.      Fractions    have    been    dropped 
throughout  the  study. 


22  Seattle  Children  in  School  and  in  Industry. 

ing  to  indicate  that  manual  trades  are  discredited  as 
employments  nor  have  we  received  any  expression 
from  children  to  confirm  such  a  suspicion.  The  two 
main  factors  influencing  against  trade  apprenticeship 
are  (1)  the  low  initial  wage  compared  with  the  higher 
remuneration  in  less  desirable  lines  and  (2)  the 
natural  tendency  of  children  to  experiment  with 
various  occupations  rather  than  to  become  proficient 
in  one.  Several  excellent  examples  will  serve  to  illus- 
trate this  statement. 

A.,  age  15,  left  school  in  the  fifth  grade  in  February, 
1914,  was  visited  six  months  after  leaving  and  the 
following  industrial  record  secured:  He  had  been 
employed  three  months  and  two  days  out  of  the  six 
months,  had  had  four  different  positions  and  tried 
three  different  trades. 

B.,  age  16,  out  of  school  two  years,  left  in  the  sev- 
enth grade,  had  been  employed  16%  months  out  of 
24,  tried  three  different  trades  and  was  a  delivery  boy 
at  the  time  of  our  visit. 

C,  with  a  similar  experience  gave  his  reason  for 
changing  from  each  position,  "trying  to  find  out  which 
trade  is  best."  In  reply  to  a  question  as  to  which 
was  the  best  he  said,  "printing."  He  was  a  delivery 
boy  at  that  date. 

Thirty-two  girls  and  37  boys,  or  17  per  cent  of  the 
total  number  leaving  the  grades,  had  not,  at  the  time 
of  our  visit,  done  any  work  of  any  kind. 

Changes  in  Position. 

Table  V.  indicates  the  number  of  positions  held  by 
grade  girls  and  boys  who  have  been  out  of  school 
from  one  week  to  one  year.  In  many  instances  the 
home  was  visited  as  soon  as  we  received  the  school 
leaving  report.    Had  we  delayed  our  visits,  it  is  legiti- 


Seattle  Children  in  School  and  in  Industry. 


23 


mate  to  infer  that  the  number  holding  but  one  posi- 
tion would  have  been  greatly  lessened. 

Table  Y.     Number  of  Positions  Held. 


One 
Position 

Two 

Positions 

Three 
Positions 

Four 
Positions 

Five 
Positions 

No 
Work 

Total 

Boys..... . 

Girls 

101 
107 

33 
43 

18 
22 

5 
3 

1 

37 
32 

195 
207 

Total... 

208 

76 

40 

8 

1 

69 

402 

Initial  Wage. 

It  was  possible  to  make  out  a  complete  wage  table 
including  all  grammar  school  pupils  and  the  138  high 
school  pupils  from  whom  industrial  histories  were 
secured. 

Table  VI.     Weekly  Wage.* 


$2 

$3-4 

$4-5 

$5-6 

$6-7 

$7-8 

$8-12 

Total 

Girls: 
Grade 

26 

5 

2 

54 
4 

20 
6 

37 
5 

40 
18 

73 
20 

71 

12 

13 
16 

20 
6 

4 

18 

*20"" 

207 

High  school.... 
Boys: 
Grade 

1 

74 
156 

64 

.   Total 

1 

33 

84 

100 

176 

55 

42 

501 

The  average  initial  wage  of  grammar  school  girls  is 
$5.10  and  of  high  school  girls  $7.08;  of  grammar 
school  boys  $6.07  and  of  high  school  boys  $7.76.  Com- 
parison of  average  wage  rates  for  the  grammar  school 
and  high  school  pupils  might  be  useful  in  indicating 
to  parents  and  children  the  economic  value  of  con- 
tinuing their  education  whenever  it  is  possible.f 

Periods  of  Unemployment. 

It  was  impossible  to  estimate  the  time  of  unemploy- 
ment in  proportion  to  the  time  of  employment  since 

*  Thirty-nine  grade  boys  employed  by  the  A.  D.  T.  or  delivering:  on 
commission  are   omitted. 

t  The  influence  of  the  minimum  wage  law  in  this  particular  is  not 
yet  demonstrated. 


24 


Seattle  Children  in  School  and  in  Industry. 


leaving  school  for  the  402  grammar  school  pupils  be- 
cause so  many  initial  wage  rates  were  secured  imme- 
diately after  the  child  left  school  and  follow  up  visits 
were  not  made.  An  especial  effort  was  made  to  secure 
this  information  for  the  138  high  school  students 
with  the  following  results: 

Table  VII.     Unemployment — 138  High  School  Students. 


Average  Time 
Out  of  School 

In  First 
Position 

Percentage 

Unemployed 

at  Date 

Percentage 

of  time 
Unemployed 

Average 
Wage 

Girls 

Boys 

5  5-7  mos. 
5  9-10  mos. 

24H% 
50H% 

35% 
16  3-5% 

27^% 

1»H% 

$7.08 
7.76 

From  the  above  statistics  it  is  easy  to  estimate  the 
economic  loss  to  high  school  pupils  resulting  from 
periods  of  unemployment.  Had  we  similar  statistical 
information  for  grammar  school  pupils  it  is  safe  to 
say  that  periods  of  unemployment  would  be  much 
longer  and  that  in  many  cases  the  economic  return 
from  the  loss  of  a  year  of  education  would  be  reduced 
to  the  minimum. 


SECTION  II. 
School  Leaving  and  Labor  Permits. 


SECTION  II. 

School  Leaving  and  Labor  Permits. 

The  School  Laws  of  Washington  require  all  children 
between  the  ages  of  8  and  15  years,  or  any  child  be- 
tween 15  and  16  years  of  age,  not  regularly  and  law- 
fully engaged  in  some  useful  and  remunerative  occu- 
pation, to  attend  school  unless  excused  on  certain 
specified  grounds,  one  being  the  completion  of  the  first 
eight  grades  of  the  public  school.  Children  excused 
from  school  attendance  may  not  be  employed  except 
upon  presentation  of  a  school  leaving  certificate  issued 
by  the  School  Authorities  to  be  kept  on  file  by  the 
employer  during  the  period  of  employment.* 

The  Child  Labor  Laws  of  Washington  forbid  the 
employment  of  any  male  child  under  the  age  of  14 
years  or  any  female  child  under  the  age  of  16  years 
at  any  labor  whatever,  in,  or  in  connection  with  any 
store,  shop,  factory,  mine  or  any  inside  employment 
not  connected  with  farm  or  housework  without  the 
written  permit  thereto  of  a  Judge  of  a  Superior  Court 
of  the  County  wherein  such  child  may  live.f 

By  mutual  agreement  it  has  become  the  custom  in 
Seattle  for  the  School  Attendance  Department  to  issue 
both  school  leaving  and  labor  certificates.  Certificates 
so  granted  are  issued  to  the  child  for  a  definite  period 


•  Remington  &  Ballinger  Code  of  Washington,   Title  28,  Chapter  36. 
t  Remington  &  Ballinger  Code  of  Washington,  Sees.   2447.  6570,  6571. 

27 


28  Seattle  Children  in  School  and  in  Industry. 

to  work  for  a  definitely  named  employer.  There  is 
no  legal  requirement  either  that  the  child  return  the 
certificate  to  the  Attendance  Office  when  the  position 
is  given  up  or  that  the  employer  notify  the  office  that 
he  has  ceased  to  employ  the  child. 

Thus  it  will  be  seen  that  boys  who  have  attained  the 
age  of  14  years  and  have  completed  the  eighth  grade 
may  leave  school  and  remain  idle  or  enter  the  employ- 
ment of  their  choice  without  consultation  with  the 
School  Department  and  without  legal  obligation  to 
the  same.  Boys  who  have  not  completed  the  eighth 
grade  may  not  have  this  privilege  until  they  are  15 
years  of  age,  but  at  that  age  they  may  leave  school 
and  enter  industry  irrespective  of  their  educational 
status  and  subject  only  to  the  requirements  of  the 
school  law  and  the  minimum  wage  rulings  regarding 
conditions  of  labor.  Girls  are  legally  entitled  to  the 
same  prerogatives  except  that  the  age  at  which  girls 
may  accept  employment  without  a  labor  permit  is  16 
instead  of  14. 

That  portion  of  the  school  law  which  requires  chil- 
dren "between  15  and  16  years  of  age  not  regularly 
and  lawfully  engaged  in  some  useful  and  remuner- 
ative occupation  to  attend  school"  is  too  often  a  dead 
letter  owing  to  the  fact  that  the  attendence  depart- 
ment has  no  legal  method  of  ascertaining  when  a 
child  ceases  to  be  employed  and  should  be  forced  to 
return  to  school. 

In  this  section  we  shall  present  the  facts  which  we 
have  secured  relative  to  "Permit  Children."  Our 
primary  object  in  this  discussion  will  be  to  indicate 
as  clearly  as  possible  the  basis  upon  which  school 
leaving   permits*   are   issued   and   to   ascertain   what 

*  This  is  the  only  class  of  permits  In  which  the  attendance  depart- 
ment has  the  right  of  refusal.  Labor  permits  may  be  secured  on  request 
provided  the  school  law  has  been  complied  with. 


Seattle  Children  in  School  and  in  Industry. 


29 


constitutes  economic  pressure  and  how  far  it  is  the 
controlling  factor  in  granting  such  permits.  In  order 
to  carry  out  our  object,  and  at  the  same  time  have 
as  broad  a  basis  for  generalization  as  was  possible, 
we  have  utilized  for  tabulation  the  186  children  from 
Table  VIII.  who  received  school  leaving  and  labor 
permits  in  1913-1914  and  143  additional  children  who 
left  the  grade  schools  the  year  previous,  1912-1913,  on 
similar  permits.  Obviously  it  would  be  unfair  to  in- 
clude in  our  study  for  economic  pressure  those  chil- 
dren who  work  after  school  and  Saturdays  for  spend- 
ing money. 

As  all  of  the  children  under  Table  VIII.,  except 
such  as  may  have  been  continuously  employed  on  labor 
permits  since  prior  to  September  1913,  have  been  in- 
cluded in  the  first  division  of  our  study  we  shall  not 
tabulate  the  same  class  of  information  for  a  similar 
second  group  including  but  143  new  names.  Records 
indicate  that  were  such  facts  to  be  summarized  they 
would  not  differ  materially  from  those  already  given. 
The  reasons  for  school  leaving,  the  lines  of  work  en- 
tered and  the  wage  scale  would  be  almost  identical. 

Table  VIII.  indicates  the  number  of  children  who 
have  received  permits  during  the  year  1913-1914  and 
the  class  of  permit  issued.  As  this  study  is  dealing 
with  the  Seattle  schools  only,  the  names  of  a  few 
children  who  are  attending  country  schools  in  King 
County  are  omitted. 

Table  Tffl.     Permits  1913-1914. 


Boys 

Girls 

Totals 

33 
31 
20 
29 

2 

95 
27 
18 
19 
3 

128 

"    58 

38 

48 

Health 

5 

Total 

115 

162 

277 

30 


Seattle  Children  in  School  and  in  Industry. 


Table  EX.     Nationality  of  329  Permit  Children.*  t 


Native  Born, 
Native  Parents 

Native  Born, 
Foreign  Parents 

Foreign  Born, 
Foreign  Parent! 

United  States: 
Whites                      

197 
4 

34 
20 
13 
6 
6 
6 
5 
4 
4 

5 

3 

4 

3 

Italy 

2 

3 

Wales 

2 

Canada: 

1 

1 

Turkey 

1 

2 

1 

Poland 

1 

201 

104 

24 

Grand  total . 


329 


The  main  interest  in  Table  IX.  is  the  consideration 
of  how  far  race  and  nativity  are  influencing  factors  in 
the  desire  of  parents  to  secure  labor  or  school  leaving 
certificates.  Inasmuch  as  61  per  cent  of  the  329  cer- 
tificates were  issued  to  native  born  children  of  native 
parents  and  another  31  per  cent  to  native  born  chil- 
dren of  foreign  parents,  inasmuch  as  no  foreign  nation- 
ality predominates  in  the  totals,  and  inasmuch  as 
"custom  to  leave"  is  not  an  important  factor  in  our 
school  leaving  table,  we  would  seem  to  be  justified  in 
concluding  that  nationality  plays  no  part  worth  men- 
tioning in  the  desire  to  secure  working  papers. 


•  The  remaining-  tables  in  this  series  will  be  based  upon  the  186 
school  leaving  and  labor  permits  from  Table  VIII  and  the  143  from  the 
year  1912-1913,   329  in  all. 

t  Where  parents  were  not  born  in  the  same  country,  the  nationality 
of  the  father  is  the  one  tabulated. 


Seattle  Children  in  School  and  in  Industry. 


31 


Table  X.     Number  in  Family  and  Head  of  Family. 


Number  in 
Family 

Father 

Mother 

Step-father 

Other 
Relatives 

Non-family 
Group 

Total 

j 

6 

2 

6 

2 

4 
14 
29 
50 
32 
24 
12 
12 
13 

3 

2 

16 

22 

18 

17 

12 

8 

5 

1 

1 

1 

3 

24 

3 
4 
5 

2 
4 
4 
2 

40 
53 
73 

6 

46 

7 

1 

34 

g 

1 

18 

g 

13 

10 

1 

15 

11 

4 

12 

1 

13 

2 

Total 

196 

12 

329 

No  separate  tabulation  was  made  to  indicate 
whether  fathers  were  dead,  divorced  or  had  deserted, 
but  the  percentage  (36  per  cent)  of  families  where  the 
father  is  not  at  the  head  is  larger  than  in  any  other 
study  to  which  we  have  had  access.  Desertion  we 
are  convinced  is  a  much  more  formidable  cause  of 
school  leaving  than  it  has  been  found  to  be  in  eastern 
cities.  Orphanage,  too,  either  partial  or  complete, 
plays  a  much  larger  part  than  is  conceded  by  most 
cities.  It  is  interesting  to  note  that  families  with 
step-fathers  at  the  head  are  4  1/2  per  cent  of  the  total 
while  the  federal  investigation  covering  several  cities 
reported  3  7/10  per  cent.  About  the  same  percentage 
of  children  are  classified  as  self  supporting  or  in  non- 
family  groups.  Large  families,  that  is,  families 
consisting  of  more  than  six  members,  which  is  also 
the  average  number  in  families,  are  common. 

Table  XI.     Age    and   Grade   on    Receiving   Permit  t   Retardation    of 
Working   Children.      Boys. 


Age 

Grade 

High  School 

Grand 
Total 

3d 

4th 

5th 

6th 

7th 

8th 

Total 

9th 

10th 

11th 

Total 

12 

...... 

1 

1 
1 

2 
5 
12 
5 
2 

*2 
11 
18 
12 
4 

3 
*7 

8 
13 
5 

2 

7 

*20 

12 

8 

10 
31 
59 
43 

20 

5 
*3 

1 

1 
1 
5 
3 
2 

11 

13 

32 

14 

64 

15 

46 

16 

1 

22 

Total. 

2 

3 

26 

47 

36 

49 

163 

11 

1 

12 

175 

*  Normal. 


32 


Seattle  Children  in  School  and  in  Industry. 


Table  XII.     Age  and   Grade  on   Receiving   Permit  t   Retardation   of 
Working  Children.     Girls. 

Age 

Grade 

High  School 

Grand 

3d 

4th 

5th 

6th 

7th 

8th 

Total 

9th 

10th 

11th 

Total 

Total 

12 

:::::: 

2 

3 
3 
2 

2 
6 

1 
*1 

11 
12 

"2" 

•15 

38 

6 

5 
11 
32 
58 

7 

5 

13 

11 

14 

9 

•17 

2 

9 

26 
6 

41 

15 

16 

9 
*3 

...... 

84 
13 

Total. 

i 

5 

8 

13 

25 

61 

113 

28 

12 

1 

41 

154 

*  Normal. 
Table  XIII. 

Summary  of  Age  and  Grade  on  Receiving  Permit. 

Grade 


3 
4 
5 
6 
7 
8 
H.S. 


Boys 


13 


Total 


Girls 


12      13     14 


Total 


Grand 
Total 


1  3 

5  8 

8  34 

13  60 

25  j      61 

61  110 

41  !      53 


Per- 
centage 


Total. 


32 


46 


22 


175 


84 


154        329 


100% 


t  Seventh   Grade   at    13   years,    normal;   sixth   or   below   at   13    years, 
retarded;  eighth  or  above  at  13  years,  above  normal. 


Table  XTV.     Summary  of  Retardation. 


Normal 
No.     Per  Cent 

Retarded 
No.     Per  Cent 

Ahead 
No.     Per  Cent 

Total 

Per  Cent 

Boys 

32 

18  2-7 

123 
96 

70  2-7 
62  26-77 

20 
22 

113-7    | 
14  22-77  j 

175 
154 

100 

Girls 

36 

23  29-77 

100 

Total 

68 

219 

42      1 1 

329 

Inferences  along  several  lines,  according  to  the  in- 
terest of  the  reader,  may  be  readily  drawn  from  the 
statistical  information  contained  in  Tables  XL,  XIL, 
XIII.  and  XIV.  The  one  who  may  be  interested  in 
sex  comparison  will  note  that  the  girls  make  a  slightly 
better  scholastic  showing  than  the  boys:  the  other, 
more    interested    in    the    average    educational    status 


Seattle  Children  in  School  and  in  Industry.  33 

will  note  that  16  per  cent  of  the  total  number  were 
high  school  pupils  at  the  date  of  leaving  and  33  per 
cent  were  in  or  had  completed  the  eighth  grade. 
Comparison  with  general  statistical  information  on 
this  subject  indicates  that  the  scholastic  record  of 
permit  children  in  our  city  is  much  higher  than  the 
average  for  the  country.  Cincinnati's  survey  for 
1911-1912  reports  2,366  working  certificates  issued 
during  that  year.  Approximately  2  per  cent  were 
granted  to  high  school  pupils  and  18  per  cent  to 
eighth  grade  pupils.  Comparison  with  the  same  city 
for  percentage  of  retardation  was  useless  as  the  Cin- 
cinnati basis  of  computing  retardation  allows  a  lee- 
way of  more  than  a  year  while  ours  does  not.* 

Occupation  of  Parents. 

Turning  to  the  occupation  of  parents,  we  find  very 
little  which  has  any  bearing  on^  our  subject.  Occupa- 
tions are  not  more  hereditary  in  Seattle  than  in  other 
sections  of  the  country,  while  the  seasonal  character 
of  many  industries  is  a  much  more  important  factor 
in  school  leaving  than  in  many  other  localities.  Fre- 
quently economic  pressure  due  to  unemployment  of 
adults  because  of  illness  or  slack  work  necessitates 
the  granting  of  a  temporary  permit  until  the  father 
secures  employment. 

Table  XV.     Occupation  of  210  Fathers  and  Step  Fathers. 


Occupation 

Number 

PerCent 

37 
42 
71 
23 
37 

18 

Skilled  trades 

20 

34 

City  emplnyftftfl  nr  cnmmPTcin\  linpa 

11 

Miscellaneous 

18 

Total 

210 

100 

*  Woolley,   Helen   T. :   Facts  about  the  Working  Children  of  Cincin- 
nati and  Their  Bearing  Upon  Educational  Problems,   1913. 


34  Seattle  Children  in  School  and  in  Industry. 

Economic  Status  of  the  Family. 

The  economic  status  of  the  family  is  the  real  basis 
for  deciding  whether  a  child  under  15  years  of  age 
who  has  not  completed  the  eighth  grade  shall  receive 
a  school  leaving  permit  or  be  refused  the  same.  The 
Attendance  Department  in  Seattle  has  never  made  a 
scientific  study  of  what  constitutes  economic  pressure. 
However,  the  information  presented  in  Tables  XVI. 
to  XXII.  and  the  comparison  of  this  information 
with  the  results  of  scientific  investigation  elsewhere, 
indicate  clearly  that  our  chief  attendance  officer  has 
estimated  very  accurately,  even  if  intuitively,  the 
meaning  of  "economic  pressure." 

Certain  rules  have  been  observed  in  collecting  and 
tabulating  our  material  which  will  be  enumerated  in 
order  that  those  who  desire  to  compare  Seattle  sta- 
tistics with  those  of  other  cities  may  better  under- 
stand our  view  point  and  our  interpretation  of  eco- 
nomic pressure. 

1.  In  estimating  family  resources  we  have  used  the 
statistics  given  at  the  time  of  visitation.  No  effort 
was  made  to  secure  the  annual  income. 

2.  The  same  rule  has  been  followed  with  reference 
to  rent  and  to  the  child's  income. 

3.  Only  members  of  the  family  living  at  home  have 
been  considered.  "Family  resources"  equals  the  sum 
of  the  full  earnings  of  all  who  live  at  home. 

4.  No  deductions  of  any  kind  were  made  for  illness, 
rent,  assessments,  taxes,  carfare,  lunches,  etc. 

We  regret  our  inability  to  make  this  section  of  our 
survey  conform  strictly  to  the  Federal  methods  of 
investigation  and  tabulation.  It  was  our  original  in- 
tention to  do  so  but  home  ownership  in  Seattle  dur- 
ing recent  years  has  meant  financial  obligation  in  the 
shape  of  assessments,  taxes,  and  special  improvements 
which  approaches,  equals  and  often  exceeds  the  aver- 
age expenditure  for  rent.     For  this  reason  the  Fed- 


Seattle  Children  in  School  and  in  Industry. 


35 


eral  system  did  not  seem  to  meet  Seattle  needs  nor 
would  its  results  have  been  fairly  representative  of 
Seattle  conditions.* 

We  were  not  able  to  secure  the  assessment,  taxation 
and  repair  figures  for  all  of  the  home  owners  but  we 
did  find  in  many  instances  that  the  financial  burden 
was  very  heavy  and  that  "to  save  the  home"  was  often 
the  real  reason  for  school  leaving.  Under  these  cir- 
cumstances it  seemed  best  not  to  deduct  rent  but  to 
tabulate  separately  the  economic  status  of  home 
owners  and  renters. 

5.  The  economic  condition  of  the  family  is  a  vital 
consideration  in  granting  school  leaving  permits  but 
need  not  be  such  in  granting  labor  permits.  There- 
fore, Tables  XVI.,  XVII.  and  XVIII.  will  classify 
separately  the  economic  status  of  the  58  families  in 
which  children  received  school  leaving  permits. 
Tables  XIX.,  XX.  and  XXI.  will  present  statistics  for 
labor  permits  which  may  be  used  for  comparison  if 
desired. 

Table  XVI.     Family  Resources — Fifty-eight  School  Leaving:  Permits. 


Total  Weekly  Income 

Average 
Weekly 

$5-10 

$10-15 

$15-20 

$20-25 

$25-30 

$30-35 

Total 

Income 

2 
5 

6 
14 

9 

5 

7 

4 
2 

2 

19 
39 

$14.00 

17.00 

Total 

7 

20 

10 

12 

6 

3 

58 

Table  XVII.     Child's  Wage  in  Relation  to  Resources — Fifty-eight  School 
Leaving:  Permits. 


Weekly  Per  Capita,  Less  Child's  Wage 

Child's 

Child's 
Wage 
Only 

$lor 
Less 

$1-2 

$2-3 

Over  $3 

Average 

Average 
Wage 

2 
3 

1 
6 

11 
11 

3 
13 

2 
6 

$1.60 
2.10 

$5.55 

Renters 

5.90 

Total 

5 

7 

22 

16 

8 

•  The  Federal  system  measures  the  financial  resources  by  the  per 
capita  income  remaining-  after  rent  is  paid  and  often  the  expenses  of 
illness  and  death  and  the  income  from  children  under  sixteen  is  de- 
ducted.      Vol.  VII,  p.  80. 


36  Seattle  Children  in  School  and  in  Industry. 


Table  XVIII.     Bent    in    Relation    to    Resources — Thirty-nine    School 
Leaving:  Permits. 

Weekly  Rent 

Number 

of 
Families 

Average  Rent 
Per  Family 
Per  Week 

Average 

Income 

Per  Family 

Percentage 

of  Rent 

of  Income 

$1  25 

18 
11 

9 

$1.25-2.50 
{ 2  50-3  75 

13.50 

$17.00 

20% 

Over  |3  75 

Fifty-eight  families  is  hardly  a  sufficient  basis  to 
warrant  definite  conclusions  but  in  passing  over  the 
subject  it  may  be  well  to  note  a  few  items  which 
alone  are  of  little  value  but  which  if  taken  in  con- 
junction with  other  facts  may  prove  both  interesting 
and  useful. 

1.  Thirty-three  per  cent  of  the  58  families  securing 
school  leaving  permits  were  home  owners.  Of  the 
seven  cities  included  in  the  Federal  investigation  the 
highest  percentage  of  home  owners  was  37  and  the 
average  24. 

2.  Of  the  19  home  owners,  12  or  63  per  cent,  were 
of  foreign  birth.  Eeal  estate  dealers,  who  make  a 
business  of  handling  small  homes  on  the  monthly 
payment  plan,  agree  that  a  large  percentage  of  sales 
are  made  to  the  foreign  population.  One  dealer,  who 
has  been  in  business  in  Seattle  for  over  20  years,  is 
at  this  date  carrying  $150,000  of  investments  in  small 
homes.  Payments  are  met  regularly  and  only  twice  in 
20  years  has  foreclosure  been  necessary.  Foreigners 
in  his  estimation  are  much  more  willing  to  make  per- 
sonal sacrifice  in  order  to  become  home  owners. 

3.  Comparison  of  the  family  resources  of  home 
owners  and  renters  shows  the  renters  to  be  earning, 
on  an  average,  $3.00  or  21  per  cent  more  per  week 
than  are  home  owners.  Those  who  buy  do  not  have 
the  largest  income.  In  the  Federal  investigation  the 
reverse  was  found  to  be  true. 


Seattle  Children  in  School  and  in  Industry.  37 

4.  Table  XVIII.  indicates  the  amount  per  week 
paid  for  rent  and  the  percentage  which  rent  forms  of 
the  total  income.  The  lowest  rent  is  $1.25  and  the 
highest  $5.60;  the  average  $3.50  or  20  per  cent  of  the 
total  income.  This  is  a  higher  percentage  on  the 
average  than  is  reported  by  other  cities.  The  Federal 
investigators  found  88.1  per  cent  of  the  families  pay- 
ing less  than  20  per  cent,  practically  75  per  cent  less 
than  15  per  cent,  and  nearly  50  per  cent  less  than  10 
per  cent.  Renters  as  a  rule  had  comfortable  homes. 
A  very  small  percentage  was  classed  as  "poor." 

5.  The  average  percentage  of  the  family  income  con- 
tributed by  the  child  is  39  9/14  for  home  owners  and 
34  12/17  for  renters.  This  percentage  is  nearly  double 
that  of  the  average  contribution  made  by  children  else- 
where. Twenty-two  per  cent  in  Columbia,  S.  C,  is  the 
highest  average  reported  by  the  Federal  investigators. 
Without  this  contribution  by  the  child  58  per  cent  of 
the  families  under  consideration  would  have  $2.00  or 
less  per  week  per  capita  for  entire  living  expenses. 

Although  methods  of  deciding  what  constitutes  a  rea- 
sonable standard  of  living  vary  somewhat  in  different 
cities  there  seems  to  be  a  general  agreement  that  no 
per  capita  income  is  sufficient  which  is  less  than  $1.50 
per  week  after  rent  has  been  deducted  and  after  bills 
for  illness  and  death  have  been  met.  Moreover  it  is 
universally  conceded  that  families  having  a  weekly 
income  of  less  than  $2.00  per  capita,  after  the  above 
deductions  have  been  made  and  after  the  contribution 
made  by  the  child  has  been  deducted,  are  justified  in 
asking  for  financial  assistance  from  the  child  on  the 
basis  of  "economic  pressure."  All  investigators  have 
reported  a  few  families  who  do  keep  children  in  school 
at  a  much  lower  per  capita  income  than  $1.50  to  $2.00. 
In  Seattle  we  have  found  a  considerable  number. 

In  deciding  how  far  "economic  pressure"  has  been 
a  legitimate  factor  in  granting  school  leaving  permits 


38 


Seattle  Children  in  School  and  in  Industry. 


it  must  be  remembered  that  our  statistics  have  been 
tabulated  without  deductions  for  rent,  illness  or 
death  and  that  had  such  deductions  been  made,  many 
of  the  24  families  now  above  the  "economic  pressure" 
line  would  have  fallen  below.  Losses  from  illness  and 
death  were  frequently  the  cause  of  "economic  pres- 
sure." 

Labor  Permits  and  Economic  Pressure. 

Although  "labor  permits"  have  not  been  included  in 
our  study  on  economic  pressure,  it  may  be  interesting 
for  purposes  of  comparison  to  know  something  of  the 
same  facts  relative  to  families  where  children  who  are 
exempt  from  school  leaving  certification  have  secured 
the  working  certificate  only.  Doubtless  a  part  of 
these  children  have  had  school  leaving  certificates  the 
year  previous  and  the  material  conditions  of  the  fam- 
ily have  not  changed.  On  the  other  hand,  in  many 
instances  it  is  obvious  that  necessity  has  played  no 
legitimate  part  in  influencing  children  to  enter  in- 
dustry prior  to  the  completion  of  the  public  school 
course.  Attention  has  been  called  in  Section  I.  to 
various  causes  which  are  largely  responsible  for  such 
cases. 

Table  XIX.     Family  Resources — Two  Hundred  Seventy-one 
Labor  Permits. 


Total  Weekly  Income 

Average 
Weekly 
Income 

$6-10 

$10-15 

$15-20 

$20-25 

$25-30 

$30-35 

Over  35 

Total 

Owners. . 
Renters. 

18 
36 

12 
44 

6 
36 

32 
22 

20 
10 

4 
11 

13 
7 

105 
166 

21 
10 

Total... 

54 

56 

42 

54 

30 

15 

20 

271 

Tabic 

>  XX. 

Child's  Wage  In  Relation  to  Resources — Two  Hundred 
Seventy-one  Labor  Permits. 

Weekly  Per  Capita,  Less  Child's  Wage 

Child's 

Average 

Wage 

Child's 

Wage  Only 

$1  or  Less 

$1-2 

$2-3 

Over  3 

Average 

Owners. . 
Renters. 

12 
14 

4 
12 

20 
24 

24 
50 

45 
76 

$3.00 
3.07 

$6.60 
5.63 

Total... 

26 

16 

44 

74 

121 

Seattle  Children  in  School  and  in  Industry.  39 


Table  XXI.     Bent  in  Relation  to  Resources — One  Hundred  Sixty-six 
I^abor  Permits. 


Weekly  Rent 

Number 

of 
Families 

Average  Rent 
Per  Family 
Per  Week 

Average 

Income 

Per  Family 

Percentage 

of  Rent 

of  Income 

$1.25 

4 
76 
60 
26 

$1.25-2.50 

$2.50-3.75 
Over  $3.75 

$3.80 

$19.00 

20% 

Table  XXII.     Summary  of  Three  Hundred  Twenty-nine  Labor  and 
School  Leaving-  Permits. 


Plass 

of 
SQrmit 

Percentage  of 
271  Labor  and 
58  School  Leav- 
ing Permits 

Average  Weekly 
Income(*) 

Percentage  of 

Income 

Contributed  by 

Child 

Average 
Rent 
and 
Per- 
centage 

of 
Income 

Weekly 
Income 

Less 

Child's 

Below 

Standard 

Average 
Total 
Weekly 
Income 
$20  or 
Less 

Owners 

Renters 

Owners 

Renters 

Owners 

Renters 

School 
Leaving 

Labor... 

33% 

38% 

67% 

62% 

$14.00 
19.50 

$17.00 
19.00 

39% 
33% 

34% 

34% 

$3.50 
20% 
3.80 
20% 

58% 
32% 

63% 
56% 

*  In  drawing  general  conclusions  from  the  329  cases,  the  average 
Income  of  renters  is  undoubtedly  larger  than  that  of  owners.  Eight 
home  owners  in  the  labor  section  have  weekly  incomes  of  $40-$60  while 
no  renters  happen  to  have  incomes  similarly  high. 

In  concluding  how  far  economic  necessity  is  a  factor 
in  the  labor  of  children  under  16  years  of  age,  we 
have  the  following  facts  which  hold  good  for  our 
entire  list  of  329  permits,  including  both  grammar 
grades  and  high  school: 

1.  Average  rent  is  uniform  at  20  per  cent  of  the 
average  income  for  all  classes  of  permits.  This  rental 
is  high  in  comparison  with  other  cities. 

2.  The  generally  accepted  average  weekly  per  capita 
income  absolutely  essential  to  cover  the  necessities 
of  living  is  from  $1.50  to  $2.00  after  deductions  have 
been  made  for  illness,  death  and  rentals.  The  aver- 
age in  Seattle  for  all  School  Leaving  Permits  falls 
below  this  standard.  Considered  from  another  point 
of  view,  58  per  cent  of  the  school  leaving  certificates 
and  32  per  cent  of  the  labor  certificates  are  granted 
to  families  in  which  the  weekly  per  capita  income 


40  Seattle  Children  in  School  and  in  Industry. 

falls  below  this  universally  accepted  standard  of 
living.  Were  the  expenses  incident  to  illness,  death 
and  rentals  to  be  deducted,  this  percentage  in  both 
classes  would  be  much  larger.  From  this  point  of 
view  there  is  a  margin  of  about  50  per  cent  in  which 
parents  by  securing  a  labor  permit  may  use  a  child 
as  a  source  of  income  although  not  forced  to  do  so 
because  of  economic  pressure.  Parents  are  not  always 
responsible.  Very  frequently  a  child  prefers  to  go  to 
work  either  because  of  dissatisfaction  with  school  or 
because  of  desire  for  more  abundant  spending  money. 
In  Seattle  children  themselves  have  voiced  greater 
dissatisfaction  with  the  schools  than  have  the  parents 
of  the  same  children  when  visited  in  their  homes.  In 
the  Federal  report  about  two-fifths  of  the  children 
were  found  to  have  left  school  of  their  own  choice. 
School  leaving  permits  do  not  allow  this  same  exer- 
cise of  personal  judgment  or  desire  on  the  part  of 
parent  and  child. 

The  lowest  per  capita  income  for  all  classes  with- 
out deductions,  except  the  child's  wage,  is  55  cents 
and  the  highest  f  12.40. 

Average  weekly  income  for  average  family  is  another 
legitimate  method  of  estimating  the  influence  of  eco- 
nomic pressure.  Twenty  dollars  per  family  is  the 
usual  minimum  accepted.  Reference  to  Table  XXII. 
shows  the  average  for  each  group  composing  the  329 
to  fall  below  this  requirement.  The  same  table  shows 
that  if  families  are  grouped  according  to  total  weekly 
income  56  per  cent  of  the  labor  certificates  and  63  per 
cent  of  the  school  leaving  certificates  are  held  by 
families  with  weekly  incomes  of  $20  or  less. 

3.  The  percentage  of  family  income  contributed  by 
Seattle  children  is  above  30  per  cent  in  all  averages. 
Elsewhere  in  the  country  it  approaches  20  per  cent. 
This  is  interesting  in  view  of  the  fact  that  child  labor 
here  receives  so  high  a  financial  reward  in  comparison 
with  other  cities  reporting. 


SECTION   III. 

Educational    and    Occupational    Experience    of 

Boys  and  Girls  Up  to  21  Years  of  Age  Who 

Have  Been  Out  of  the  Seattle  Schools 

More  Than  One  Year. 


SECTION   III. 

Educational    and    Occupational    Experience    of 

Boys  and  Girls  Up  to  21  Years  of  Age  Who 

Have  Been  Out  of  the  Seattle  Schools 

More  Than  One  Year. 

From  the  third  set  of  blanks  we  have  202  girls  and 
223  boys  who  furnished  complete  replies  to  both  the 
educational  and  vocational  questionnaire.  Workers 
were  never  interviewed  at  their  places  of  business. 
Fluently  employers  offered  to  extend  this  courtesy 
bift  for  many  reasons  it  seemed  best  to  seek  employees 
in  their  homes  or  elsewhere  after  business  hours. 


Table  XXIII.    Reasons  Why  Children  Leave  School — 202  Girls — 223  Boys. 


Cause 

Girls 

Boys 

Total 

Percentage 

Illness 

15 

54 

71 
7 
4 

51 

2 
46 

69 
13 
16 
77 

17 
100 

140 

20 
20 

128 

4 

Economic  pressure 

23 

Too  old,  dislike,  trouble,  not  promoted, 
etc 

33 

4 

4 

Spending  money  or  preference  for  work 

30 

Total 

202 

223 

425 

The  following  are  typical  replies  as  to  why  these 
more  experienced  youths  left  school : 

"Preferred  to  work  but  would  like  to  go  back  now." 
"Was  not  compelled  and  had  never  been  sorry  until 

just  now."  (Age  17.) 

"The  teacher  was  too  bull  headed."  (Age  16.) 
"Did  not  have  the  money  to  buy  clothes  and  pay 

dues."  (Age  19.) 

"I  did  not  like  school  but  am  sorry  I  left  now." 

(Age  18.) 
"I  would  have  stayed  had  I  known  what  I  know 

now  of  the  necessity  for  so  doing." 

43 


44  Seattle  Children  in  School  and  in  Industry. 


"Wasn't  getting  anything  from  high  school." 
"Couldn't  get  credit" 

"To  try  and  find  out  what  was  the  best  line  of 
work.    I  may  go  back." 

"Wanted  to  work  for  something  definite." 
"Wanted  to  do  something  to  bring  in  the  money." 
"Could  not  keep  up  with  the  high  school  expenses." 
"Four  years  is  too  much  time  to  put  in  with  noth- 
ing to  show  for  it." 
"Could  not  get  along  with  the  principal." 
"Yes,  compelled  to  leave  and  was  glad  of  it." 
"Left  at  my  own  choice — was  discouraged." 
"Because  I  wanted  to  but  I  do  not  know  enough  to 
get  along  and  am  going  back."  (Age  16.) 

"I  grew  tired  of  what  I  was  doing  and  left.  I  would 
do  differently  now."  (Age  19.) 

"I  did  not  realize  I  was  making  a  mistake  to  leave." 
(Freshman,  out  six  months.) 
"Because  of  certain  studies." 

"Did  not  care  for  school  and  did  not  want  to  waste 
time." 

"Prefer  a  good  trade."  (This  is  an  interesting 
statement  in  view  of  the  fact  that  this  boy  stuck  to 
his  trade  only  six  weeks  and  at  the  time  of  writing 
was  a  delivery  boy — age  16.) 

Comparison  of  Table  II.  with  Table  XXIII.  indi- 
cates that  the  reasons  for  school  leaving  have  been 
fairly  uniform  covering  a  period  of  five  years.  De- 
tailed knowledge  of  the  point  of  view  of  the  older 
child  at  date  of  leaving  compared  with  his  point  of 
view  after  even  a  brief  competition  in  business,  indi- 
cates that  many  are  finding  "dissatisfaction"  to  be 
a  most  trivial  excuse  and  are  realizing  too  late  that 
lack  of  education  is  a  serious  handicap  in  adult  life. 
With  the  older  as  with  the  younger  group  "economic 
pressure"  has  been  one  of  the  leading  factors  in  school 
leaving.  It  is  not,  however,  in  either  case  entitled 
to  the  prominence  which  is  commonly  assumed. 


Seattle  Children  in  School  and  in  Industry. 


45 


Table  XXIV 

Number  of  Years  Since  Leaving  and  Number  of 
Positions  Held. 

Number  of  Positions— Girls 

Number  of  Positions — Boys 

Years  Out 

1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

5  Plus 

Total 

1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

5  Plus 

Total 

1  .. 

15 
16 
6 
4 
2 
7 

12 
12 
10 
9 
10 
14 

6 
10 
12 
6 
5 
13 

7 
2 

"3* 
4 

4 

40 
44 
33 
24 
22 
39 

13 
10 
4 
12 
4 
8 

15 
17 
9 
6 
7 
12 

8 
11 
6 
4 
4 
8 

2 
5 
1 

2 
4 

1 
1 

"i 

2 
5 

2 

10 

11 

........ 

14 

41 

a 

3 

4 

4 
5 

1 

"*i" 
*'"i" 

54 
31 

26 

5 

5  plus 

20 
51 

Total... 

50 

67 

52 

20 

11 

2 

202 

51 

66 

41 

15 

12 

38 

223 

Table  XX V.     Summary  of  Number 

of  Positions   and  Percentage. 

One 
Position 

Two 
Positions 

Three 
Positions 

Four 
Positions 

Five 

Positions 

Total 

No. 

Per  Cent 

No. 

Per  Cent 

No. 

Per  Cent 

No. 

Per  Cent 

No. 

Per  Cent 

No. 

Per  Cent 

Boys.... 
Girls.... 

51 

50 

23 
25 

66 
67 

30 
33 

41 

52 

18 
25 

15 

20 

7 
9 

50 
13 

23 
6 

223 

202 

100 
100 

Total... 

101 

24 

133 

31 

93 

21 

35 

8 

63 

15 

425 

100 

In  comparing  Table  XXV.  with  Table  V.  it  must 
be  remembered  that  the  402  included  under  Table  V. 
represent  a  complete  school  leaving  group  covering 
a  definite  period — one  day  to  one  year — while  the  425 
included  under  Table  XXV.  represent  a  group  com- 
posed of  but  a  small  part  of  those  leaving  school 
during  a  period  of  approximately  one  to  five  years. 
The  first  group  includes  grammar  school  pupils  only, 
the  second  both  grammar  and  high  school  pupils. 
The  first  includes  very  young  children  fresh  from 
school  supervision  with  neither  the  judgment  nor 
the  experience  necessary  to  warn  them  of  the  dangers 
of  frequent  changes,  the  second  includes  only  those 
who  have  remained  in  industry,  many  of  whom  ac- 
knowledge that  most  of  their  changes  were  made  in 
the  early  years  of  their  industrial  experience.  It 
would  be  natural  to  expect  a  higher  percentage  of 
stability  in  the  second  group,  and  also  natural  to 
expect  increase  in  stability  as  age  and  experience 
increase.  Moreover  it  is  unlikely  that  all  actual 
changes  have  been  given  in  the  replies  of  older 
workers. 


46 


Seattle  Children  in  School  and  in  Industry. 


Table  XXVI.     Age,  Grade  and  Retardation  of  Industrial  Group.     Girls. 


Grade 

High  School 

Grand 

Age 

3 

4 

5 

6 

7 

8 

Total 

9 

10 

11 

12 

Total 

Total 

12 

2 

*4 

2 
*3 

5 
12 

3 

19 

33 

21 

5 

1 

9 
6 

29 

52 

27 

5 

3 

9 

13 

6 

14 

1 

"3* 

4 
3 
5 

1 

•12 
5 

7 
3 

4 
♦9 

7 
3 

2 
19 
14 

19 
17 

31 

15 
16 

3 

71 
41 

17 

*2 
2 

*3 
9 

24 

18-21 

2 

20 

Total 

4 

3 

16 

25 

83  i    131 

28 

24 

7 

12 

71 

202 

*  Normal. 


Table  XXVII.     Age,  Grade  and  Retardation  of  Industrial  Group.     Boys. 


Grade 

High  School 

Grand 
Total 

Age 

3 

4 

5 

6 

7 

8 

Total 

9 

10 

11 

12 

Total 

10-12 

1 

*1 

2 
6 

7 

1 

*2 
9 
9 
2 

1 

*22 

28 
17 
6 

4 
5 

40 

48 

20 

6 

3 

4 

13 

5 

14 

1 

.... 

2 
3 

8 

*14 

8 
9 
3 

2 

4 

*13 

8 
4 

10 
19 
23 
21 

24 

50 

15 
16 

1 
2 

11 

67 
43 

17 

27 

18-21 

2 

27 

Total 

1 

1 

6 

17 

25 

76 

126 

42 

31 

9 

15 

97 

223 

*  Normal. 


Table  XXVUI.     Summary  of  Age  and  Grade  at  Date  of  Leaving. 

Grade 

Boys 

Girls 

Grand 
Total 

Per- 
cent- 

10- 
12 

13 

14 

15 

16 

16- 
21 

Total 

10- 
12 

13 

14 

15 

16 

16- 
21 

Total 

age 

3 

1 

1 

6 
17 
25 
76 
97 

1 

5 
9 

33 
50 
159 
168 

1-5 

4 

3 

7 
9 
28 
19 

2 

1 

1 
3 
3 
12 
33 
19 

4 
3 
16 
25 
83 
71 

5 

1 
1 

1 

'"2' 
2 

2 
6 
9 
22 
10 

2 

6 

7 

8 

H.  S. 

2 

17 
23 

"2 

7 

45 

4 
2 

"*3* 
3 

4 
5 
19 
2 

5 

1 

21 

14 

"2 

6 

36 

8 
11 
37 
39 

Total. 

4 

5 

50 

67 

43 

54 

223 

9 

6 

31 

71 

41 

44 

202 

425 

Table  XXIX.     Summary   of   Retardation — Industrial    Group. 


Normal 

Retarded 

Ahead 

Total 

No. 

Per  Cent 

No. 

Per  Cent 

No. 

Per  Cent 

No. 

Per  Cent 

Boys 

63 
58 

28 
28 

136 
126 

61 
62 

24 
18 

10 
9 

223 
202 

100 

Girls 

10a 

Total 

121 

28 

262 

61 

42 

10 

425 

100 

Seattle  Children  in  School  and  in  Industry. 


47 


Tables  XXVI.,  XXVII.,  XXVIII.,  and  XXIX.  for 
the  Industrial  Group  correspond  to  Tables  XI.,  XII., 
XIII.  and  XIV.  for  the  group  receiving  School  Leav- 
ing or  Labor  Permits.  Each  group  includes  both 
grammar  grades  and  high  school.  The  industrial 
group  includes  ages  up  to  21  years  and  the  permit 
group  to  16  years  only.  Hence  we  would  expect  to 
find  a  higher  percentage  of  high  school  pupils  in  the 
former.  One,  again,  is  composed  of  all  children  in  a 
definite  group,  while  the  other  is  in  a  sense  composed 
of  selected  cases.  Bona  fide  "economic  pressure"  is 
a  much  larger  factor  in  the  permit  group.  These 
facts  must  be  taken  into  consideration  in  making 
comparisons  as  to  age  and  grade  of  leaving. 

First  Positions  and  Changes  in  Position. 

Table  XXX.     First   Position   and    School    Grade— Boys    223. 


First  Position 

5th  Grade 
or  Less 

6 

7 

8 

9 

10 

11 

12 

Total 

Per 
Cent 

Delivery  and  messenger 

Clerks 

2 

3 

2 

7 
1 
3 
6 

3* 
1 

18 
11 
2 
13 
8 
2 
4 
2 
3 
2 

10 

7 

3 

9 
4 

3 
2 

1 

9 

1 
7 
2 
6 
3 
2 
2 

"i" 

3 

1 

1 

4 

.... 

4 

39 

29 

9 

42 

21 

12 

10 

6 

5 

3 

5 

42 

17 
13 

Street  trades 

4 

1 

3 

1 

18 

Office 

9 

3 

5 

t 

1 

1 

Sailor 

1 

2 

1 

Automobile 

1 
3 

2 
2 

2 

Miscellaneous 

7 

8 

3 

20 

Total 

8 

17 

25 

76 

42 

31 

9 

15 

223 

Table  XXXI.     First  Position   and  School  Grade — 202   Girls. 


First  Position 

5th  Grade 
or  Less 

6 

7 

8 

9 

10 

11 

12 

Total 

Per 

Cent 

Department  store 

2 

2 

2 

25 
6 
12 
10 
10 
3 
5 
3 
9 

9 
2 
4 

1 

5 

1 
5 

5 
16 

3 

1 

3 
6 

51 
31 
23 
21 
16 
9 

16 
14 
21 

25 

Office..? 

15 

Factory 

3 

3 

3 

1 
1 
4 
1 

3 
5 
1 
3 
3 
5 
3 

11 

1 

1 

.... 

1 
1 

"i' 

10 

Trade 

g 

Laundry 

4 

Telephone 

1 

.... 

8 

7 

None  immediately  after  leaving 

10 

Total 

7 

16 

25 

83 

28 

24 

7 

12 

202 

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50  Seattle  Children  in  School  and  in  Industry. 

Tables  III.  and  XXX.  for  boys  and  IV.  and  XXXI. 
for  girls  indicate  the  number  and  percentage  of  the 
whole  entering  each  different  line  of  work.  Statistics 
speak  for  themselves  in  both  series.  Fifty  per  cent 
variation  for  boys  is  found  in  delivery  and  messenger 
service  where  the  younger  group  comprises  33  per 
cent  of  the  whole  as  against  17  per  cent  in  the  older 
group.  Personally  I  believe  this  variation  to  be  more 
apparent  than  real.  Younger  boys  just  leaving  school 
nearly  always  record  their  first  position  even  if  em- 
ployed for  but  a  few  weeks,  while  boys  who  have  been 
at  work  for  three  or  four  years  frequently  forget  to 
mention  their  first  weeks  of  employment  as  messenger 
or  delivery  boys.  Investigators  have  been  instructed 
to  secure  this  information  but  have  not  always  been 
successful. 

The  same  percentage  of  variation  is  found  in  skilled 
trades  where  18  per  cent  of  the  older  group  is  tabu- 
lated against  9  per  cent  of  the  younger.  Several 
theories  might  be  offered  in  explanation.  One  of  the 
most  logical,  and  one  supported  by  facts,  is  that  the 
second  group  comprises  a  larger  number  of  older  and 
more  advanced  students  for  whom  it  is  much  easier 
to  secure  positions  as  apprentices.  The  general  public 
would  doubtless  be  surprised  to  find  so  small  a  per- 
centage of  either  group  engaged  in  street  trades. 
School  principals,  however,  know  that  a  large  part  of 
the  newsboys  in  Seattle  are  school  boys  who,  when 
they  drop  out  of  school  permanently,  usually  enter 
other  lines  of  work.* 

The  percentage  of  girls  from  each  group  entering 
each  occupation  is  singularly  uniform.  The  highest 
percentage  from  both  groups  enter  department  stores, 
the  second  go  to  offices,  the  third  to  factories,  while 
the  percentage  entering  both  skilled  trades  and  do- 

•  A  study  is  in  preparation  which  will  indicate  the  source  of  supply 
for  newsboys,  the  influence  of  street  work  on  educational  progress  and 
also  in  future  Industrial  occupation. 


Seattle  Children  in  School  and  in  Industry.  51 

mestic  service  is  exactly  the  same.  The  percentage 
of  high  school  girls  entering  the  telephone  service  is 
increasing.  This  is  doubtless  due  to  the  great  im- 
provement in  conditions  of  service,  the  excellent  moral 
and  physical  surroundings,  permanency  of  employ- 
ment, steady  promotion,  sick  benefits,  insurance  and 
pension  systems. 

Of  the  202  girls  81,  or  40  per  cent,  were  in  their 
original  line  of  work  at  the  date  of  interview,  79  or 
39  per  cent,  in  different  lines  and  42,  or  21  per  cent, 
were  out  of  work. 

Of  the  223  boys  79,  or  35  per  cent,  were  in  their 
original  lines  of  works,  117,  or  52  per  cent,  were  in 
different  lines  and  27,  or  12  per  cent,  were  looking  for 
work. 

With  both  sexes  the  highest  percentage  of  occupa- 
tional stability  accompanied  greater  age  and  longer 
business  experience.  It  is  also  of  interest  to  note 
that  the  highest  percentage  of  stability  is  found  in 
those  lines  of  work  which  require  some  definite  train- 
ing in  order  to  secure  and  hold  positions.  Sixteen 
per  cent  of  the  total  number  is  a  high  percentage  of 
unemployment  in  view  of  the  fact  that  this  group  is 
more  or  less  select  in  composition  and  doubtless 
represents  an  individual  type  above,  rather  than  be- 
low, the  average. 

In  reply  to  the  question,  "Are  you  satisfied  with 
your  present  position?"  90  girls  said  "Yes"  and  70 
said  "No";  95  boys  said  "Yes"  and  101  said  "No." 
This  means  that  over  50  per  cent  were  either  out  of 
work  or  were  dissatisfied  with  their  work.*  In  many 
cases  "dissatisfaction"  was  not  based  on  legitimate 
criticism.  The  positions  were  desirable,  the  conditions 
of  service  favorable,  the  prospect  for  permanency  good 
and  remuneration  all  that  could  be  expected  consid- 
ering education,  native  ability  and  personality. 

*  It  is  interesting  to  note  that  about  the  same  percentage  of  pupils 
leave  school  because  of  "dissatisfaction." 


52  Seattle  Children  in  School  and  in  Industry. 

Reasons  for  Changes  of  Positions. 

A  few  quotations  from  the  reasons  for  leaving  po- 
sitions or  for  dissatisfaction  although  retaining  the 
position,  will  illustrate  better  than  anything  else  the 
real  causes  of  this  constant  shifting  in  occupations. 
Boy  19  who  had  been  em-  "Would  like  to  try  some- 
ployed  in  four  different  thing  different." 
lines  of  work. 


Boy  20  who  was  trying  to     "Too  hard  and  not  lucra- 
learn  a  trade.  tive." 


Boy  17  who  was  in  a  hard-     "No,  because  I  ought  to 
ware  store.  have  a  good  position." 

Boy  18  left  school  at  15  in     "To  reach  such  a  position 
the    sixth    grade.    Had         as  would  be  good." 
tried    seven    different 
lines,     four     of     which 
were  skilled  trades. 


Boy  15  eight  grade,  out  of  "Don't  like  work  any  bet- 
school  one  year.  ter  than  school." 

Boy  16  who  has  had  four  "Didn't  get  on  with  the  of- 

positions  in  one  year.  fice  man." 

Boy  19  left  school  in  sev-  "For  reasons  too  numerous 

enth  grade  at  14  years.  to  mention  here." 
Has    tried    seven    lines 
and    is   unemployed   at 
present. 


Boy  19  left  school  in  the  "To  find  out  which  trade 
eighth  grade.  Has  tried  is  best." 
to  learn  three  different 
trades  and  after  decid- 
ing that  printing  is  the 
best  is  now  a  delivery 
boy. 


Seattle  Children  in  School  and  in  Industry.  53 

Boy  16,  eight  grade,  out  "My  employer  wanted  me 

of  school  one  year.    Has  to  change  and  I  wanted 

changed    position    four  to  change,  too." 
times. 


Boy  17,  mother  says  he  is     "I  got  fired." 
too    lazy    to    do    good 
work.     Lost  three  good 
positions  in  a  few  weeks. 


Very  common  reasons  are  "Lack  of  education," 
"Could  not  get  adjusted  to  the  house,"  "Laid  off"  and 
"No  future." 

As  the  above  quotations  indicate,  the  reasons  given 
by  young  boys  for  the  constant  change  in  positions 
are  truly  "too  numerous  to  mention  here."  Psycholog- 
ical interpretation,  however,  is  not  difficult  for  one 
who  is  accustomed  to  dealing  with  boys  from  14  to  21 
years  of  age. 

Beasons  given  by  girls  differ  somewhat  and  are  much 
more  easily  grouped  or  classified.  There  are  three 
main  reasons  directly  traceable  to  the  following 
sources:  (1)  the  girl  herself,  (2)  the  character  of 
employment,  (3)  legislative  enactment. 

Under  (1)  we  have: 

"Just  to  get  a  change." 

"To  rest  up  a  bit." 

"No  reasons  especially." 

"To  get  a  little  rest." 

"To  have  a  change  in  work." 
(Present  position  excel- 
lent. The  girl,  17,  had 
made  five  changes.) 

"Didn't  like  the  place." 

"For  want  of  a  change." 

"Too  young." 

"Lack  of  education." 


54  Seattle  Children  in  School  and  in  Industry). 

Under  (2)  we  have  a  second  group  of  reasons  which 
center  about  the  character  of  employment  and  are 
usually  beyond  the  control  of  employees,  although  at 
times  "slack  work,"  "laid  off"  and  "rush  over"  are 
only  polite  terms  for  concealing  "inefficiency"  on  the 
part  of  the  girl.    The  following  are  examples : 

"Season  over. 
"Relief  only." 
"Christmas  rush." 
"Irregular  work." 
"Laid  off." 

Under  (3)  we  have  such  legislative  enactments  as 
have  been  placed  on  our  statute  books  for  the  avowed 
purpose  of  benefiting  female  employees.  Legislation 
of  this  class,  worthy  in  motive  and  good  in  theory, 
frequently  defeats  the  very  object  for  which  it  was 
initiated,  or  benefits  one  class  of  female  workers  to 
the  disadvantage  of  another  class.  The  Eight  Hour 
Law  and  the  Minimum  Wage  Law  stand  out  promi- 
nently in  this  respect.  Both  laws  have  cost  many 
good  honest  girls  their  positions.  The  influence  of 
the  Minimum  Wage  Law  will  be  discussed  in  its 
relation  to  education  in  another  section  of  the  report. 
The  influence  of  the  Eight  Hour  Law  is  felt  in  various 
ways  by  different  classes  of  female  workers.  It  reads 
as  follows: 

"No  female  shall  be  employed  in  any  me- 
chanical or  mercantile  establishment,  laundry, 
hotel  or  restaurant  in  this  State  more  than 
eight  hours  during  any  day.  Provided,  how- 
ever, that  the  provisions  of  this  section  in 
relation  to  the  hours  of  employment  shall 
not  apply  to,  nor  affect,  females  employed  in 
harvesting,  packing,  curing,  canning  or  dry- 
ing any  variety  of  perishable  fruit  or  veget- 
ables, nor  to  females  employed  in  canning  fish 
or  shellfish."* 


Sec.  I,  Chapter  37,  Laws  of  1911. 


Seattle  Children  in  School  and  in  Industry. 


55 


Very  frequent  illustrations  of  the  workings  of  this 
law  are  brought  to  our  attention  by  women  and  girls 
who  benefit  by  or  who  suffer  from  its  operation. 
Enumerated  and  classified  they  offer  a  series  of  very 
definite  facts  which  are  worthy  of  public  attention. 
An  instance  representing  each  type  is  given. 


Mrs.  C,  a  widow  with 
three  children,  does  day 
work  whenever  she  can 
secure  it.  She  is  also 
regularly  employed  as  a 
janitress  in  one  of  our 
office  buildings.  She 
cleans  24  rooms  each 
evening  after  5  p.  m.  and 
receives  f  1.00  per  room 
per  month. 


The  Eight  Hour  Law  has 
had  no  influence  on  this 
class  of  worker.  Such 
women  may  continue  to 
sacrifice  themselves  and 
their  families  as  before. 


Miss  P.,  employed  in  one 
hairdressing  establish- 
ment, may  not  work 
more  than  eight  hours 
for  this  house.  She  fre- 
quently goes  to  a  second 
s  i  m  i  lar  establishment 
and  does  evening  work. 
When  window  displays 
are  to  be  given,  Miss  P. 
prefers  to  return  in  the 
evening  and  assist  in 
her  own  store  and  re- 
sents the  fact  that  she 
must  go  to  a  second 
store  while  an  alien  is 
brought  in  to  work  in 
her  place  when  overtime 
is  necessary. 


The  Eight  Hour  Law  does 
not  protect  such  girls 
from  excessive  hours 
nor  does  it  force  them 
to  protect  themselves. 


56 


Seattle  Children  in  School  and  in  Industry. 


Miss  B.  is  employed  as  a     This  girl  is  not  protected 


stenographer  in  a  gar 
age.  She  reports  for 
duty  at  7:30  a.  m.  and 
remains  until  6  p.  m. 
Her  salary  is  f  12.00  a 
week. 


by  the  Eight  Hour  Law. 
A  stenographer  in  a 
garage  may  work  as 
many  hours  as  she 
pleases  for  f  12.00. 


Miss.  M.  is  employed  as  a     This    girl    works    for    a 


stenographer  in  one  of 
our  large  mercantile 
houses.  Her  salary  is 
$12.00  a  week.  She 
works  from  9  a.  m.  to 
6  p.  m. 


house  included  under 
the  law.  Her  employer 
is  fined  if  she  exceeds 
eight  hours.  She  has 
benefited  by  the  law. 


Miss  K.  is  employed  as  a 
stenographer  by  a  real 
estate  firm  for  $85.00  a 
month.  She  works  as 
many  hours  as  she  and 
her  employer  agree. 


Miss  S.  is  employed  as  a 
stenographer  by  a  large 
business  house.  Her 
work  is  of  such  a  nature 
that  letters  frequently 
must  be  written  after 
5  p.  m.  Her  salary  is 
$90.00. 


Keal  estate  offices  are  not 
included  under  the  law. 
This  class  of  employee 
is  exactly  where  she 
was  before  the  passage 
of  the  law  or  possibly 
worse  off,  as  fewer  posi- 
tions are  open  to  her. 


This  house  is  included  un- 
der the  Eight  Hour 
Law.  The  salary  is  suf- 
ficient to  attract  male 
employees  and  the  em- 
ployer does  not  wish  to 
risk  violation  of  the 
law.  Miss  S.  lost  her 
position  to  a  man.  She 
is  worse  off  than  she 
was  before  the  passage 
of  the  law. 


Seattle  Children  in  School  and  in  Industry.  57 

A  large  number  of  similar  instances  serve  to  em- 
phasize the  following  facts:* 

1.  That  the  Eight  Hour  Law  for  women  is 
"class"  legislation — class  according  to  the  char- 
acter of  the  house  rather  than  according  to  the 
character  of  employment.  The  stenographer  is 
protected  in  the  mercantile  house,  but  the  sten- 
ographer in  the  garage  is  exactly  where  she  was 
before  the  passage  of  the  law.  That  is,  the  Eight 
Hour  Law  does  not  uniformly  apply  to  all 
women  workers  in  all  employments.  Moreover, 
it  does  not  uniformly  apply  to  the  low  salaried 
women  in  all  classes  of  employment. 

2.  That  the  woman  of  ability  who  is  able  to 
hold  a  position  in  which  the  salary  is  sufficient  to 
attract  men  is  in  danger  of  losing  her  position 
provided  it  be  with  a  house  included  under  the 
law.  If  with  a  house  not  included  under  the 
law  she  too  is  exactly  where  she  was  before  the 
passage  of  the  law  or  possibly  worse  off  because 
the  number  of  positions  open  to  her  type  of  abil- 
ity are  lessened.  That  is,  the  high  salaried  women 
are  brought  into  unequal  competition  with  men. 
Handicapped  by  the  law,  in  some  cases  they  lose 
their  positions  and  in  others  are  forced  into 
houses  where  the  law  is  not  operative. 

3.  That  the  main  object  of  the  law — to  protect 
the  health  of  woman  as  an  individual  and  by  pro- 
tecting her  protect  posterity — is  defeated  in  all 
cases  where  women  and  girls  accept  day  work  from 
one  employer  and  night  work  from  another.  Wait- 
resses, janitresses,  stenographers  and  others  have 
many  opportunities  for  this  sort  of  thing  and  it 
is  a  much  more  common  practice  than  the  casual 
observer  might  think.  Such  women  are  not  bene- 
fited by   the  law.     In   fact  they  are   frequently 

*  No    effort    is   here   made    to    offer    a   complete   summary   of   facts 
relative  to  the  Eight  Hour  Law. 


58  Seattle  Children  in  School  and  in  Industry. 

worse  off  than  before  as  the  second  employer 
rarely  knows  what  service  has  been  rendered  the 
first  and  is  less  likely  to  consider  the  girl's  con- 
dition than  would  be  the  case  had  she  worked 
continuously  for  one  employer. 

4.  The  only  real  uniform  advantage  accruing 
to  women  workers  is  in  the  case  of  low  salaried 
women  in  certain  lines  of  work  who,  because  of 
the  character  of  the  work  and  the  large  numbers 
employed,  can  neither  be  displaced  by  boys  nor 
by  machinery.  Boys  have  to  some  extent  taken 
the  place  of  women,  and  machinery  is  more  and 
more  doing  so.  Even  in  the  mercantile  lines 
there  are  prophecies  of  a  day  when  mail  orders 
will  supplant  counter  sales  and  many  clerks  will 
be  entering  other  occupations. 

It  seems  fair  to  conclude  that  the  Eight  Hour  Law 
has  benefited  some  women  in  some  lines  of  work,  but 
on  the  whole  has  been  a  serious  handicap  to  the 
woman  of  ability  who  realizes  that  the  positions  at 
the  top  are  not  often  filled  by  "time  servers."  Many 
women  feel  that  if  we  are  to  have  such  a  law  it  should 
be  made  uniform  for  every  woman  whose  ability  has 
not  received  a  certain  salary  recognition — say  $10.00 
to  |12.00  a  week — and  that  women  who  have  received 
such  recognition  should  be  allowed  to  use  their  own 
judgment  as  to  both  hours  and  salary,  reaching  the 
top  if  possible.  It  is  also  suggested  that  uniform 
protection  for  low  salaried  women  will  continue  to  be 
impossible  unless  women  themselves  are  obligated  by 
law  to  take  the  same  responsibility  for  their  health 
as  does  the  employer.  Why  not  fine  the  woman  who 
works  over  eight  hours  as  well  as  the  employer?  This 
would  be  peculiarly  applicable  to  women  who  serve 
two  employers.  Another  suggestion  is  the  alteration 
of  the  law  to  permit  a  maximum  number  of  hours  per 
week  with  a  more  flexible  day  limit. 


Seattle  Children  in  School  and  in  Industry. 


59 


Whatever  the  reasons  for  changing  positions  may  be, 
one  thing  is  certain — employers  are  not  inclined  to  en- 
courage the  employment  of  boys  and  girls  whose  appli- 
cation blanks  indicate  frequent  changes  in  occupation. 
The  employers  of  Seattle  have  allowed  us  the  privilege 
of  examining  hundreds  of  application  blanks,  some 
filled  out  by  successful  and  some  by  unsuccessful  ap- 
plicants. It  has  been  very  common  to  find  the  reason 
for  failure  to  employ  expressed  as  follows :  "Too  many 
changes."  It  is  always  comparatively  easy  to  get  a 
first  trial,  sometimes  a  second  and  possibly  a  third, 
but  by  the  time  the  fourth  position  is  sought,  busi- 
ness men  say  frankly  that  it  costs  the  house  too  much 
to  train  a  boy  with  almost  certainty  that  he  will  not 
stay. 

The  following  record  is  an  excellent  example  of 
the  type  of  worker  not  wanted  by  business  men: 

A.,  age  15,  completed  eighth  grade  at  14  years. 
Took  his  first  position  August  4,  1913,  and  his  fifth 
on  May  15,  1914. 


Firm 

Occupation 

Wage 

Time 

Why  Leave 

j 

$6.00 

6.00 

6.00 

6.00 

26^  per  Mo. 

Aug.  4,  '13,  to  Sept.  27,  '13... 

Sept.  27  to  Jan.  10, '14 

Jan.  12  to  April  10  . . 

2 

3 

4 

April  27  to  May  15 

Better  place 

5 

Hardware  apprentice 

May  15  to  June  1 

Handicaps  in  Securing  Promotions. 

In  reply  to  the  question,  "What  has  hindered  you 
most  in  securing  better  positions  and  better  wages?" 
we  have  chosen  the  following  answers  as  best  charac- 
terizing the  group: 


Age  19,  eleventh  grade, 
been  out  two  and  one- 
half  years,  tried  three 
different  lines  and  was 
anxious  to  find  his  right 
place  in  industry. 


"Lack  of  advanced  educa- 
tion in  one  particular 
line  and  not  knowing 
how  to  find  the  right 
line  to  follow." 


60 


Seattle  Children  in  School  and  in  Industry. 


Left  school  at  11  years  in 
the  third  grade  in  coun- 
try. Entered  city  school 
for  one  year  at  14  years. 
Has  done  odd  jobs  al- 
ways and  had  no  work 
at  date  of  interview. 


I  had  no  trade  and  no 
proper  schooling." 


Age  17,  left  school  in  sev-  "I    haven't    fitted    myself 

enth  grade  at  15  years  for  anything  better  than 

of  age.    Is  a  messenger  I  am  doing." 
boy. 


Age  17,  left  school  in 
eighth  grade  two  years 
ago.  Has  done  odd  jobs 
and  lost  two  positions 
as  trade  apprentice. 


"Ignorance  and  inexperi- 
ence. I  have  failed  at 
two  trades." 


Age  20,  tenth  grade,  in  "I  do  not  know.  I  have 
very  good  line  and  do-  never  thought  of  it  un- 
ing  well.  til  you  asked  this  ques- 

tion." 


Age  20,  eighth  grade,  tried 
several  lines  and  at- 
tends night  school. 


"Don't  know.     Just  can't 
seem  to  get  ahead." 


Age  18,  left  school  in  sixth 
grade. 


"Don't  like  work  of  any 
kind.  Employers  expect 
too  much." 


Girl    18,    seventh    grade, 
poor  school  record. 


"Don't  care  to  work  very 
hard  and  don't  have  to." 


Many  girls  and  boys  summarized  their  replies  in  two 
or  three  words: 


Seattle  Children  in  School  and  in  Industry.  61 

"No  technical  training." 
"Incompetence." 
"Lack  of  concentration." 
"Lack  of  pull." 
"Nothing." 

"The  class  of  unemployed." 
"Age."  (A  very  common  reason.) 
"Lack  of  education."  (The  high- 
est percentage  of  all.) 

Qualities  Which  Contribute  to  Success. 

"What  qualities  have  been  most  helpful  to  you  in 
advancing?"  was  rarely  answered  thoughtfully  or  in- 
teligently  by  the  younger  workers.  Girls,  as  a  rule, 
did  not  attempt  to  reply.  The  older  boys  gave  some 
excellent  replies. 

"Ability  to  see  what  to  do  and  be 
willing  to  do  it." 

"Hard  work." 

"Industry." 

"Staying  by  the  same  job." 

"Determination  to  succeed." 

"Paying  attention  to  what  I  was 
told." 

"Observation  of  those  ahead  of  me." 

"Increasing  my  knowledge  by  watch- 
ing better  men." 

"Making  a  daily  plan  for  work  and 
study  and  following  it." 

"I  do  not  know  what  qualities  are 
needed.  If  I  did  I  would  go  back 
to  school  and  try  to  learn  them." 
(Age  15,  out  of  school  six  months.) 

Suggestions  for  the  School  System. 

There  are  some  valuable  hints  for  educators  in  re- 
plies to  the  question,  "Were  you  to  return  to  school 
what  can  you  suggest  that  would  be  most  helpful  in 
making  you  a  more  efficient  worker?" 


62  Seattle  Children  in  School  and  in  Industry. 

"Character  consideration  is  more  important 

than  children  think.     Couldn't  teachers  do 

more  to  show  children  the  right  point  of 

view?" 

"More  patience  with  dull  children.     I  always 

knew  the  teacher  did  not  like  dull  boys." 
"Help  boys  to  see  the  value  of  education  be- 
fore it  is  too  late." 
"A  thorough  brief  business  course  to  show 
us  all  what  will  be  expected  when  we  go 
to  work." 
"Teach  us  to  do  every  little  thing  well." 
"Give    us    a   better    foundation    in    common 

branches." 
"A  better  foundation  to  build  on." 
"Better  spelling  and  arithmetic." 
"A  simplified  application  of  economics." 
"Closer  application  and  ability  to  think  for 

ourselves." 
"Something  to  show  girls  how  to  use  money." 
"I  wish  I  knew.    I  have  not  done  well  so  far." 
"Make  girls  more  independent." 
"To    teach    things    that    count    in    business. 

Character  is  neglected." 
"More  thoroughness  in  teaching  and  develop- 
ing the  reasons  why." 

Boy   18,  who  says  he  is     "To  help  us  to  see  what 
honest  and  has  lots  of         we  are  adapted  to  and 
grit  but  has  no  educa-         make  a  study  of  it." 
tion   for   anything   and 
his  work  life  is  a  fail- 
ure. 

There  are  many  lessons  for  our  school  boys  and 
girls  which  might  be  learned  from  the  experience  and 
advice  of  these  older  workers  who  have  seen  the 
serious  side  of  business  life  and  who  are  realizing 
their  needs  after  the  opportunity  to  meet  them  has 
slipped  away.  Over  and  over  again,  in  instance  after 
instance,  we  were  told  that  another  opportunity  would 


Seattle  Children  in  School  and  in  Industry.  63 

meet  a  different  response  on  their  part.  Might  not 
our  public  school  teachers  find  a  message  for  their 
charges  in  the  testimony  of  these  experienced  workers 
so  ably  expressed  in  the  words  of  Kipling? 

"I  wish  myself  could  talk  to  myself  as  I  left  'im  a 

year  ago: 
I  could  tell  'im  a  lot  that  would  save  'im  a  lot  on  the 

things  that  'e  ought  to  know." 

The  same  question,  "What  can  the  schools  do  to 
make  more  efficient  workers?"  was  put  to  many  em- 
ployers who  deal  with  large  numbers  of  young  em- 
ployees. Employers'  replies  are  almost  identical  with 
those  of  the  workers  themselves.  Capital  and  labor, 
employer  and  employee,  no  matter  what  their  point 
of  view,  are  unanimous  in  asking  for  greater  emphasis 
along  three  definite  lines: 

1.  Academic — accuracy,   rapidity   and   neatness 
in  arithmetic,  writing  and  spelling. 

2.  Character — honesty,  industry  and  ability  to 
follow   instructions. 

3.  Personality — hygiene,  proper  business  dress, 
courtesy  and  refinement  in  speech  and  manner. 

Supplemental  Education. 

In  view  of  the  fact  that  a  large  percentage  of  the 
group  under  consideration  acknowledges  "lack  of  edu- 
cation" to  have  been  the  most  serious  handicap  in 
advancing,  it  is  well  to  inquire  what  opportunities 
Seattle  offers  for  such  youths  to  make  up  educational 
loss  when  the  need  is  realized,  and  how  many  are 
seriously  interested  in  taking  advantage  of  such 
opportunities. 

The  Board  of  Education  under  the  State  Law  of 
1909  has  established  and  is  operating  Public  Evening 
Schools  during  six  months  of  each  year.  The  regis- 
tration for  1914  to  date  is  approximately  3,000  in  high 


64  Seattle  Children  in  School  and  in  Industry. 

school  courses,  500  in  grammar  schools  and  700  for- 
eigners learning  to  read  and  write  the  English  lan- 
guage or  preparing  for  citizenship.  Private  Evening 
Schools  charging  tuition  are  maintained  by  various  in- 
stitution such  as  Business  Colleges,  Schools  of  Engi- 
neering, and  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  and  Y.  W.  C.  A.  Day 
courses  are  also  offered  by  the  same  institutions  for 
those  who  during  short  periods  of  unemployment  de- 
sire to  increase  their  ability  and  knowledge.  Registra- 
tion in  correspondence  schools  is  not  uncommon. 
Churches  and  other  philanthropic  agencies  also  provide 
for  special  lines  of  educational  work  in  free  evening 
school  if  the  demand  is  sufficient. 

No  attempt  has  been  made  to  investigate  in  detail 
the  classes  maintained  by  agencies  other  than  the 
Public  School  System.  We  have  tried,  however,  to 
ascertain  through  interviews  with  the  boys  and  girls 
included  under  the  various  sections  of  this  study  and 
by  means  of  interviews  with,  and  investigation  of,  the 
present  registration  at  the  Broadway  night  school 
what  the  character  of  the  demand  for  supplementary 
study  is,  the  object  in  view,  the  type  of  pupils  who 
avail  themselves  of  such  opportunities  and  their  sat- 
isfaction with  the  instruction  received.* 

The  following  facts  are  offered  as  the  result  of  this 
study : 

1.  Boys  and  girls  do  not  often  register  in  evening 
schools  immediately  after  leaving  day  schools.  fPub- 
lic  evening  registration  for  1913-1914  was  6,444.  Of 
this  number  199  or  3  per  cent  were  under  16  years 
of  age,  101  were  in  the  elementary  schools  and  98  in 
the  high  school. 

Under  Group  I.,  comprising  the  402  children  who 
had  been  out  of  grammar  school  less  than  one  year, 

*  It  was  impossible  to  include  all  the  evening  schools  in  this 
study.  The  Broadway  was  chosen  because  it  registers  approximately  50 
per  cent  of  the  total  attendance.  It  carries  all  courses  offered  in  any 
of  the  schools  and  some  not  offered  elsewhere. 

t  This  is  a  mere  statement  of  fact.  The  desirability  of  pupils  under 
16  registering  in  evening  schools,   is  discussed  on  page  65. 


Seattle  Children  in  School  and  in  Industry.  65 

only  9  boys  and  7  girls  were  attending  night  school. 
Of  the  425  under  Group  III.  who  had  been  out  of 
school  from  one  to  five  years,  93  boys  and  40  girls 
were  attending  Public  Evening  School,  5  boys  were 
attending  private  evening  school  and  one  was  taking 
a  correspondence  course.  From  the  same  group  only 
three  had  attended  during  the  first  year  after  leaving 
day  school 

Two  explanations  are  offered  for  these  facts.  The 
first  comes  from  the  students  themselves  who  testify 
that  they  rarely  realize  until  a  year  or  two  after 
leaving,  the  competition  to  be  met  with  in  business 
life  and  the  disadvantage  of  educational  shortage.  The 
second  is  offered  by  the  investigator  who  suggests  that 
evening  work  done  by  children  under  16  is  not  advis- 
able from  either  the  mental  or  physical,  and  in  some 
instances  we  might  add,  the  moral  point  of  view.  A 
portion  of  this  younger  group  is  doubtless  strong 
enough  physically  and  sufficiently  developed  mentally 
to  attend  evening  school  advantageously,  and  were  it 
possible  to  handle  such  pupils  in  classes  apart  from 
adults  and  more  along  the  lines  of  grammar  school 
organization,  we  are  confident  that  a  considerable 
number  from  15  to  17  would  be  interested  to  complete 
the  requirements  for  high  school  admission.  This 
would  be  especially  true  were  we  to  introduce  a  sys- 
tem similar  to  that  of  some  cities  in  England  where 
the  chief  attendance  officer  forwards  every  Saturday 
morning  to  the  organizer  of  the  evening  schools  a 
complete  list  of  pupils  who  have  left  the  day  schools 
during  the  current  week.  On  the  following  Monday 
a  visitor  from  the  department  of  evening  schools  visits 
the  home  and  talks  over  the  occupation  to  be  entered 
and  tries  to  interest  the  child  and  his  parents  in  the 
line  of  advanced  study  best  calculated  for  his  future 
progress.  One  visitor,  who  combines  vocational  guid- 
ance with  evening  school  attendance  to  approximately 


66  Seattle  Children  in  School  and  in  Industry. 

100,000  population,  is  bringing  most  satisfactory  re- 
turns for  the  expenditure  involved. 

While  engaged  in  this  investigation  we  have  made 
an  experimental  beginning  of  a  similar  system  from 
which  we  have  obtained  results  indicating  the  utility 
of  continuing  and  expanding  the  system.  Schedule 
No.  1  which  gave  us  our  basis  for  home  visitation  last 
year  has  been  reprinted  and  enlarged  and  has  been 
sent  out  through  the  Superintendent's  office  with  in- 
structions to  fill  out  and  send  in  a  blank  for  every 
pupil,  other  than  transfers,  who  leaves  school.  Up 
to  November  16,  1914,  we  have  received  110  of  these 
school  leaving  blanks  from  the  high  schools  and  121 
from  the  elementary  school.  All  blanks  are  carefully 
checked  to  detect  any  violation  of  school  or  labor  laws 
and  whenever  there  seems  to  be  especial  need,  we  are 
visiting  the  homes  for  the  purpose  indicated  above.* 
The  fact  that  we  are  always  welcome,  that  advice  is 
frequently  followed,  and  more  than  all,  the  fact  that 
parents  who  have  been  visited  are  passing  on  the 
information  to  others  who  have  not  been  visited  and 
these  latter  in  turn  are  coming  voluntarily  to  the 
office,  are  undeniable  indications  of  the  demand  for 
this  line  of  educational  supervision.  From  September 
1,  1914,  to  November  1,  1914,  the  writer  has  held  office 
consultation  with  201  parents  or  children  along  the 
lines  of  vocational  information  and  continued  educa- 
tional progress.  The  information  acquired  by  the  office 
in  this  way  is  immensely  valuable  and  we  believe  the 
advantage  to  the  child  is  proven  by  the  steady  increase 
in  demand  for  consultation.  Were  we  able  to  visit 
all  the  school  leaving  cases  and  continue  our  friendly 
interest  and  educational  oversight  we  could  doubtless 
accomplish  much  for  both  the  individual  and  society. 

2.  Personal  ambition  rather  than  educational  status 
is  the  controlling  motive  governing  registration.    Total 

•  Results  of  visitation  for  the  year  1914-1915  are  not  Included  in 
this  report.  Whenever  possible  we  have  made  the  visit  because  of 
personal  interest  rather  than  to  secure  material  for  the  report. 


Seattle  Children  in  School  and  in  Industry.  67 

evening  registration  for  1913-1914  was  6,444.  About 
30  per  cent  pursued  elementary  courses  and  70  per 
cent  high  school  courses.  The  legitimate  interpreta- 
tion to  be  given  this  statistical  information  is  not  that 
70  per  cent  of  the  evening  school  pupils  have  had  a 
complete  grammar  school  education  and  are  pursuing 
secondary  academic  education,  but  that  large  num- 
bers of  mature  persons  who  have  chosen  to  increase 
their  professional  knowledge  or  mechanical  skill  rath- 
er than  to  continue  definite  academic  courses,  and 
who  have  the  foundation  necessary  to  do  so  advantage- 
ously, are  permitted  to  register  under  high  school  in- 
struction. The  investigator  knows  of  many  instances 
in  which  adults,  who  have  not  even  reached  the  upper 
grammar  grades,  are  pursuing  high  school  technical 
courses  with  the  best  of  results.  Our  conclusion, 
which  we  believe  to  be  entirely  justified  by  facts,  is 
that  a  very  large  percentage  of  the  instruction  given 
in  our  evening  schools  is  beneficial  to  those  who  have 
not  secured  the  fundamentals  of  an  education  in  youth, 
but  who,  because  of  personal  ambition  rather  than 
high  or  low  academic  status,  desire  to  become  more 
efficient  as  individuals  and  more  intelligent  as  mem- 
bers of  our  social  fabric. 

3.  The  object  of  registration  in  evening  courses  is: 
(1)  general  culture,  (2)  to  acquire  command  of  the 
English  language,  (3)  to  increase  wage  earning  ca- 
pacity either  in  the  present  occupation  or  in  other 
lines. 

4.  The  satisfaction  of  students  with  the  instruction 
offered  and  their  estimate  of  the  value  received  in 
proportion  to  the  effort  accompanying  evening  at- 
tendance, is  one  of  the  most  interesting  phases  of  the 
study  and  one  of  the  most  difficult  to  present  with 
accuracy  and  clearness. 

In  general,  classes  for  foreigners  and  special  classes 
seem  to  be  giving  very  good  satisfaction.     There  is 


68  Seattle  Children  in  School  and  in  Industry). 

considerable  dissatisfaction  with  the  purely  academic 
lines  of  work  and  in  some  instances  with  commercial 
instruction.  Doubtless  much  of  this  criticism  is  jus- 
tified. It  is  traceable  to  a  combination  of  circum- 
stances which  requires  more  careful  analysis  and  more 
detailed  explanation  than  is  possible  in  this  investiga- 
tion.   A  few  general  conclusions  are  cited: 

(1)  Pupils  registering  for  English  and  special 
classes  are  usually  more  mature,  more  uniform 
in  ability,  more  earnest  in  purpose  and  more  reg- 
ular in  attendance. 

(2)  Teachers  of  such  classes  are  more  uniformly 
well  prepared  for  their  specialty  and  the  char- 
acter of  their  task  does  not  afford  the  same  temp- 
tation to  "fill  in  time." 

(3)  Academic  classes  usually  include  a  hetero- 
geneous mass  of  adults  and  children  ranging  over 
all  the  elementary  grades,  the  serious  and  the 
frivolous,  those  who  are  forced  to  attend  by  par- 
ents or  attendance  officer,  those  who  have  no 
more  scholarly  motive  than  the  courting  of  the 
opposite  sex,  and  those  who  are  genuinely  anxious 
to  complete  their  elementary  education  and  secure 
high  school  promotion. 

Classes  of  this  character  are  to  be  found  in 
both  elementary  and  high  school.  They  are  at 
best  a  difficult  proposition  and  require  high  class 
pedagogical  ability  combined  with  personal  inter- 
est supported  by  fresh  mental  and  physical  vigor. 
When  we  consider  that  nearly  all  of  our  instruct- 
ors have  already  rendered  full  day  school  service, 
or  are  gaining  their  first  practical  experience,  we 
need  not  be  surprised  that  students  complain  as 
to  the  value  of  the  work,  and  that  many  who 
would  like  to  give  serious  attention  to  this  class 
of  evening  study  become   discouraged,   feel   that 


Seattle  Children  in  School  and  in  Industry.  69 

their  time  is  being  wasted  and  drop  out;  or  be- 
fore entering,  learn  from  friends  of  their  dissatis- 
faction and  do  not  attempt  to  attend. 

Until  we  have  more  complete  grading  of  age  and 
ability  in  our  academic  classes,  until  we  have 
better  supervision  of  actual  results*,  until  we 
have  the  same  pedagogical  interest  in,  and  re- 
sponsibility for,  evening  school  pupils  that  we 
have  for  day  school  pupils,  it  does  not  seem  that 
our  evening  schools  will  be  able  to  render  the 
service  in  this  particular  line  which  might  be 
rendered,  nor  judging  by  our  investigation,  the 
service  for  which  there  is  a  genuine  demand. 

Correspondence  with  other  cities  shows  that 
our  problem  in  this  respect  is  a  national  problem, 
and  more  than  that,  letters  from  the  other  side 
of  the  water  indicate  that  the  problem  is  of  more 
than  national  extent.  The  larger  cities  of  England 
and  Scotland  are  wrestling  with  the  same  diffi- 
culties. Experiments  of  various  kinds  are  re- 
ported, some  of  which  might  contain  suggestions 
for  Seattle.  They  are  at  the  disposal  of  the 
Superintendent  and  the  Board,  but  are  not  in- 
cluded here  as  hardly  within  the  province  of  this 
report. 

5.  The  Relation  of  Evening  Study  to  Day  Employ- 
ment is  another  interesting  phase  of  the  subject  and 
is  of  considerable  importance  in  connection  with  the 
object  of  attendance  and  the  satisfaction  of  employees 
with  their  positions.  We  have  secured  full  informa- 
tion relative  to  this  question  from  729  women  and 
805  men  attending  the  Broadway  Evening  School. 
The  results  of  this  investigation  are  presented  in 
Tables  XXXIV.  and  XXXV. 


*  A    supervisor    of   evening    school    was    recently    appointed    by    the 
Board. 


70 


Seattle  Children  in  School  and  in  Industry. 


Table  XXXIV.     Relation  of  Evening   Study  to  Day  Employment — 
728  Women. 


Day 
Occupation 

Totals 

Domestic 
Science 

General 
Culture 

Physical 
Training 

Commercial 

TradeC) 

9 

192 

6 

284 

63 

5 

53 

35 

40 

41 

11 

1 
44 

71 
10 

4 
16 

7 
15 
15 

5 

28 

3 

123 

29 

5 
16 

6 
11 

2 

Housework(t) .... 

Laundry 

Office 

7 

102 
2 

19 

7 

33 

6 

38 

Sales  clerk 

11 

Teacher 

11 
5 
3 
5 

13 
4 
5 
4 

8 

Telephone 

Trade 

3 
11 

Miscellaneous  — 

6 

Total 

728 

62 

184 

72 

227 

183 

*  Largely   millinery   and   dressmaking   for   home   use. 
t  Includes  housewives  and  domestics. 


Table  XXXV.     Relation  of  Evening  Study  to  Day  Occupation — 
805  Men. 


Day 
Occupation 

Totals 

Trade 

Culture 

Gymnasium 

Mechanical 

Store 

Office 

Apprentice 

Factory 

34 
32 

27 
6 
18 

215 
51 

224 

73 

22 

9 

92 

1 

10 
10 

18 
7 

6 

4 
1 

17 
3 
101 
5 
2 
5 

13 

...„«.. 

5 

1 

11 

....... 

2 

11 
2 
5 

....J... 

9 

Laundry 

Messenger 

Newsboy 

Office 

2 

1 

5 

13 

2 
19 

3 

""j" 

38 
13 
53 
17 
11 

36 

15 
4 
3 

10 
15 
15 
17 

122 

Salesman 

Skilled  work 

Store. . . 

14 
33 
31 

Student. . . 

9 

Teacher 

2 
5 

1 

Miscellaneous  — 

23 

Total 

805 

49 

207 

31 

184 

69 

265 

Interesting  conclusions  may  be  drawn  from  these 
tables  as  well  as  from  the  material  presented  earlier 
in  this  report.  Page  19,  and  Table  II.  indicate  that 
approximately  50  per  cent  of  the  children  who  leave 
school  before  completing  the  grammar  school  course 
do  so  because  of  "dissatisfaction"  either  real  or  un- 
real. Page  44  and  Table  XXIII.  indicate  that  this 
percentage  of  dissatisfaction  has  not  varied  greatly 
during  a  five-year  period.  A  subsequent  paragraph 
tells  us  that  the  same  percentage  of  these  same  chil- 
dren are  "dissatisfied"  in  business  life.  Pages  48  to  51 
state  that  48  per  cent  of  the  425  who  have  been  out 


Seattle  Children  in  School  and  in  Industry.  71 

of  school  from  one  to  five  years  have  given  up  their 
original  line  of  work,  38  per  cent  have  remained  in  it 
and  14  per  cent  are  unemployed.  Table  XXXIV. 
shows  the  following  facts  regarding  the  two  occupa- 
tions absorbing  the  largest  number  of  beginning  fe- 
male wage  earners,  department  stores  and  office  work. 
Registration  for  commercial  courses  is  227  with  only 
123  employed  in  the  same  lines  during  the  day,  and 
104  who  are  in  entirely  different  lines  attempting  to 
make  a  change.  Evening  registration  for  salesclerks 
is  63,  with  29  of  that  number  attempting  to  change  to 
office  work.  Moreover,  although  the  registration  is 
smaller,  50  per  cent  of  the  telephone  operators  and 
the  same  percentage  of  laundry  workers  are  also 
striving  to  become  office  workers. 

Fifty  per  cent  of  "dissatisfaction"  carried  from  the 
schools  into  industry  means  frequent  change  in  posi- 
tions, the  growth  of  pessimism,  chronic  discontent 
and  finally  many  failures  and  unemployment.*  An 
additional  item  of  interest  along  this  same  line  was 
obtained  recently  while  investigating  the  need  of  an 
evening  class  for  sales  clerks  employed  in  our  depart- 
ment stores. f  One-third  of  the  saleswomen  in  one  of 
our  stores  have  been  trained  for  office  work,  and  one- 
half  of  the  women  from  the  same  store  who  are  regis- 
tered in  evening  classes  are  taking  courses  in  stenog- 
raphy preparatory  to  changing  their  occupation.  Al- 
lowing for  the  fact  that  there  are  doubtless  a  number 
of  instances  in  which  girls  have  made  unfortunate 
initial  choices  and  would  do  better  to  change,  we  are 
still  fairly  close  to  the  inevitable  50  per  cent  of  dis- 
content and  the  all  too  common  feeling  that  any  task 
is  less  arduous  than  the  one  at  hand,  that  any  occu- 
pation is  more  agreeable,  of  higher  social  standing 

*  It  is  hard  to  make  a  similarly  accurate  study  for  men  because  the 
lines  of  work  seem  to  be  more  closely  related.  Commercial  registration 
for  girls  means  stenography  and  typewriting,  for  men  it  has  a  broader 
significance. 

t  Such  course  was  established  by  the  Board  October  1,  1914. 


72  Seattle  Children  in  School  and  in  Industry. 

and  more  remunerative  than  the  one  in  which  we  are 
engaged.  Is  it  not  this  same  feeling  which  causes 
the  average  parent  to  prefer  almost  any  occupation 
for  his  child  rather  than  the  one  in  which  he  is  en- 
gaged? The  fact  that  such  large  numbers  employed 
in  one  line  are  trying  to  prepare  for  other  lines  rather 
than  industriously  and  hopefully  striving  to  perfect 
themselves  in  their  present  occupation,  opens  up  the 
whole  question  of  vocational  guidance  in  selecting 
original  positions  and  then  encouraging  efficiency 
rather  than  change.  The  waste  of  energy,  time  and 
money  in  continuing  our  present  system  is  serious, 
while  the  effect  of  constant  discontent  on  the  individ- 
ual and  his  usefulness  must  not  be  underestimated. 

General  culture,  physical  culture  and  special  courses 
leading  to  efficiency  in  homemaking  should  be  encour- 
aged no  matter  what  the  day  occupation.  But  when 
we  realize  the  great  army  of  office  workers  already  in 
the  field  and  estimate  the  additional  number  clamor- 
ing for  admission  who  are  at  the  same  time  unable 
to  offer  personal  qualities,  educational  qualifications 
or  technical  skill  sufficiently  superior  to  the  average 
to  hope  to  attain  high  rank,  we  pause  to  consider  to 
what  extent  our  public  school  system  is  responsible 
for  such  conditions,  or  if  not  responsible,  what  it 
might  do  in  a  remedial  way. 

Our  public  day  schools  offer  just  one  practical 
course  looking  toward  efficiency  as  wage  earners  in 
the  business  world.  This  course  is  not  in  the  line 
which  employs  the  largest  number  of  young  girls,  nor 
is  it  in  the  line  in  which  there  is  the  greatest  dearth 
of  even  semi-trained  workers.  The  question  arises — 
has  not  our  school  system  followed  the  line  of  least 
resistance  in  establishing  courses  looking  toward 
clerical  positions  only,  and  is  it  not  unconsciously  en- 
couraging pupils  to  enter  an  occupation  in  which, 
according  to  present  indications,  there  will  soon  be 


Seattle  Children  in  School  and  in  Industry.  73 

nothing  like  positions  sufficient  to  go  around?  Are 
we  not,  as  it  were,  doing  worse  than  merely  neglecting 
vocational  guidance?  Are  we  not  actually  tempting 
girls  to  ignore  proper  vocational  considerations  ?  Prob- 
ably the  greatest  fault  lies  with  our  day  school  sys- 
tem, but  it  might  be  possible  and  would  doubtless  be 
useful,  if  during  the  period  of  evening  registration, 
conferences  were  to  be  held  and  information  freely 
given  regarding  the  industrial  situation  and  the  de- 
sirability of  changing  or  continuing  in  present  occu- 
pations. Too  many  are  constant  experimenters  always 
with  the  hope  of*  bettering  their  condition,  while  ex- 
perimentation is  based  on  the  most  superficial  knowl- 
edge of  the  various  occupations  and  the  real  advant- 
ages offered  by  each. 

6.  What  demand  for  advanced  education  seems  to 
be  unmet  by  evening  schools?  Adults  of  both  sexes 
have  been  found  in  considerable  numbers  who  would 
be  glad  to  take  advantage  of  an  ungraded  day  school. 
This  demand  arises  from  the  seasonal  character  of 
many  of  our  industries.  Those  who  are  out  of  em- 
ployment for  two,  three  or  four  months  would  com- 
prise the  larger  part  of  the  registration  and  the 
school  would  probably  not  be  in  session  more  than 
four  or  five  months  of  the  year. 

Initial  and  Final  Wage  and  Relation  of  Same  to  Changes 
in  Position. 

Table  VI.  indicates  that  the  initial  weekly  wage  of 
high  school  girls  and  boys  is  respectively  fl.98  and 
$1.69  higher  than  the  corresponding  weekly  wage  for 
grammar  school  pupils.* 

•  The  operation  of  the  minimum  wage  law  has  practically  forbidden 
continued  differentiation  in  initial  wage  according  to  educational  status 
and  age.  It  is  impossible  at  the  present  time  to  secure  more  than  $6.00 
even  for  the  high  school  graduate,  while  the  same  sum  is  required  by- 
law for  every  minor  without  reference  to  intellectual  status.  If  fixing 
the  minimum  at  both  ends  tends  to  make  the  legal  minimum  the  actual 
maximum,  financial  incentive  for  prolonging  school  life  will  be  entirely 
removed  and  intelligence,  measured  by  advancement  in  school,  will 
cease  to  be  a  determining  factor. 


74  Seattle  Children  in  School  and  in  Industry. 

In  constructing  the  tables  for  this  section  of  the 
report  we  had  hoped  that  there  would  be  sufficient 
evidence  to  indicate  the  average  initial  wage  relative 
to  final  wage,  the  number  changing  positions  within 
the  same  occupation  relative  to  those  changing  to  an 
entirely  different  line,  the  predominating  motives  for 
change  and  the  financial  effect  of  the  same.  That  there 
is  not  more  conclusive  evidence  along  these  lines,  has 
been  somewhat  of  a  disappointment.  For  example, 
there  is  nothing  to  indicate  why  all  those  originally 
employed  in  automobile  work  have  retained  their  po- 
sitions, while  sailors,  farmers  and  lumbermen  have 
all  changed,  and  there  is  nothing  to  indicate  whether 
the  character  of  the  industry  has  been  a  controlling 
influence  for  or  against  permanency.  We  offer  the 
material  for  what  it  is  worth.  The  reader  may  find 
some  suggestion  for  further  study  or  some  generaliza- 
tion indicating,  if  not  proving,  facts. 


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Seattle  Children  in  School  and  in  Industry.  77 

The  average  initial  wage  of  boys  and  girls  in  this 
group  is  respectively  $7.83  and  $6.26*,  the  average 
final  wage  $11.90  and  $9.29f,  or  an  increase  of  52  per 
cent  for  boys  and  48  per  cent  for  girls. 

The  total  number  of  girls  in  their  original  line  of 
work,  irrespective  of  the  number  of  positions  held  and 
including  those  unemployed  at  the  date  of  investiga- 
tion, is  101.  The  number  who  have  changed  occupa- 
tions is  the  same,  101.  The  number  out  of  work  in 
each  group  is  respectively  20  and  22.  The  number  of 
boys  in  their  original  line  is  79,  the  number  changing 
117  and  the  numbers  unemployed  12  and  15  re- 
spectively. 

Comparison  of  initial  wage  with  the  final  wage  of 
each  group  for  each  sex,  those  who  change  and  those 
who  retain  positions,  shows  that  girls  lost  approxi- 
mately 40  cents  per  capita  per  week  by  changing  from 
one  occupation  to  another,  while  boys  gain  approxi- 
mately 60  cents.  These  statistics,  as  has  been  said, 
are  not  proof  of  any  fact.  They  are,  at  best,  mere 
indications  that  a  larger  percentage  of  boys  change 
occupations  and  by  so  doing  better  their  condition 
than  is  the  case  with  girls.  Our  knowledge  of  Seattle 
industries,  as  yet  superficial,  indicates  that  there  are 
more  and  better  opportunities  for  boys  to  test  their 
ability  and  better  their  condition  through  change 
than  there  are  for  girls.  It  is  also  well  to  recall  that 
the  largest  percentage  of  young  boys  are  found  in 
the  messenger  service  from  which  a  change  is  im- 
perative, while  the  largest  percentage  of  young  girls 
is  found  in  our  department  stores  in  which  there  is 
the  best  of  opportunity  for  advancement. 

*  This  average  is  nearer  the  average  of  the  high  school  than  the 
grammar  school  group  on  page  23.  Two  explanations  are  suggested: 
(1)  Many  of  the  number  are  high  school  pupils  and  (2)  doubtless  the 
initial  wage  in  this  group  is  not  as  uniformly  the  first  wage  as  it  is  for 
the  younger  group. 

t  This  average  wage  is  approximately  the  same  as  the  minimum 
wage  established  for  four  industries.  For  those  who  desire,  the  full 
findings  of  the  wage  commission  are  available  in  the  Report  for  1914. 


SECTION  IV. 
Minimum  Wage  and  Vocational  Efficiency. 


SECTION   IV. 

Minimum  Wage  and  Vocational  Efficiency. 

Inasmuch  as  studies  of  this  type  are  closely  related  to 
studies  carried  on  by  minimum  wage  boards ;  inasmuch 
as  wage  legislation  and  vocational  education  are  two  of 
the  interesting  and  important  problems  of  the  day ;  in- 
asmuch as  each  day  that  passes  brings  before  us  in 
some  new  form  or  old  the  intimate  relation  which 
exists  between  wage  standards  and  standards  of  ef- 
ficiency; and  inasmuch  as  the  ultimate  results  of  the 
wage  law  cannot  be  judged  apart  from  its  action  and 
reaction  on  the  educational  system,  it  has  seemed  log- 
ical to  indicate  in  this  report  how  the  Minimum  Wage 
Law  and  the  subsequent  rulings  of  the  Commission 
are  affecting  the  children  of  Seattle  educationally,  and 
how  they  are  emphasizing  the  need  of  some  action  on 
the  part  of  the  educator  by  which  efficiency  may  be 
substituted  for  "cost  of  living"  as  the  basis  of  remun- 
eration for  industrial  service. 

By  legislative  enactment  the  State  of  Washington 
in  1913  established  what  is  known  as  the  "Minimum 
Wage  Law  for  Women  and  Minors."  The  avowed  pur- 
pose of  this  law  was  "to  establish  such  standards  of 
wages  and  conditions  of  labor  for  women  and  minors 
employed  within  the  State  of  Washington  as  shall  be 
held  hereunder  to  be  reasonable  and  not  detrimental 
to  health  and  morals,  and  which  shall  be  sufficient  for 
the  decent  maintenance  of  women."*  A  minor  was 
"defined  to  be  a  person  of  either  sex  under  the  age 
of  18  years."!  This  law  was  approved  by  the  Gov- 
ernor on  March  24,  1913,  and  under  its  operation  the 
following  rulings  have  been  adopted  by  the  commis- 
sion. 


*  Section  3,  Chapter  174,  Laws  of  1913. 
t  Section  8,   Chapter  174,  Laws  of  1912. 

81 


82  Seattle  Children  in  School  and  in  Industry. 

1.  For  mercantile  establishments,  to  be  effective 
June  27,  1914,  a  minimum  weekly  wage  of  $10  for 
adult  workers;  an  apprenticeship  system  allowing 
f 6  for  the  first  six  months  and  $7.50  for  the  sec- 
ond six  months  after  which  the  full  minimum  of 
$10  must  be  paid.  Minors  of  either  sex  may  not 
be  employed  for  less  than  $6. 

2.  For  manufacturing  establishments,  to  be  ef- 
fective August  1,  1914,  a  minimum  weekly  wage 
of  $8.90  for  adults  with  $6  as  the  minimum  for 
minors. 

3.  For  laundry  and  dye  works,  to  be  effective 
August  24,  1914,  a  minimum  weekly  wage  of  $9 
for  adults  with  the  same  $6  provision  for  minors. 

4.  For  telephone  and  telegraph  establishments, 
to  be  effective  September  7,  1914,  a  weekly  mini- 
mum of  $9  to  be  paid  after  nine  months  of 
service. 

One  searches  this  statute  in  vain  for  any  sugges- 
tion of  competency  in  relation  to  remuneration  or  any 
hint  that  educational  systems  could  or  should  be  val- 
uable assistants  in  raising  the  standards  of  efficiency 
and  thereby  increasing  the  wage  scale.  In  establishing 
rulings  for  apprentices  in  the  various  lines,  the  true 
meaning  of  "apprenticeship"  has  been  entirely  lost 
sight  of,  the  nature  of  the  various  employments  and 
the  varying  degree  of  skill  or  technical  knowledge 
required  in  each  has  been  ignored,  and  a  flat  rate  of 
$6  has  been  agreed  upon  for  all  alike.*  Furthermore, 
application  blanks,  issued  to  those  seeking  apprentice- 
ship, inquire  only  into  length  of  service  and  cost  of 
living.  The  educational  side  of  apprenticeship  is  ig- 
nored by  statute  and  by  commission.  No  questions  are 
asked  as  to  the  opportunity  offered  to  secure  the 
industrial  training  actually  essential  to  efficiency,  no 

*  This  statement  is  based  upon  the  rulings  which  have  been  pub- 
lished. As  a  matter  of  fact  the  commission  is  quietly  experimenting 
with  some  variations. 


Seattle  Children  in  School  and  in  Industry.  83 

questions  regarding  the  determination  of  the  appli- 
cant to  become  an  apprentice  in  the  true  sense  of 
the  term,  nor  is  there  anything  to  indicate  that  the 
applicant  has  any  personal  responsibility  for  self- 
improvement.  There  is  no  system  of  educational  re- 
ports and  no  systematic  effort  on  the  part  of  the  com- 
mission to  find  out  why  certain  apprentices  fail  to 
make  good  while  others  succeed.  Conclusion  of  the 
period  of  apprenticeship  is  determined  by  the  time 
"put  in"  not  by  the  advancement  of  the  apprentice. 
It  might  be  said,  and  it  is  unquestionably  true,  that 
employers  will  discharge  incompetent  apprentices  long 
before  the  year  expires,  but  this  does  not  solve  the 
problem  for  the  incompetent.  This  office  has  placed 
some  of  these  border  line  incompetents  as  many  as 
four  or  five  times  since  the  law  became  effective,  and 
it  has  been  impossible  for  some  to  keep  a  position  for 
longer  than  three  weeks  at  a  time.  In  fact,  so  accus- 
tomed have  we  become  to  the  requirements  of  certain 
industries  that  we  are  asking  those  who  come  to  us 
for  advice  to  let  us  know  at  the  end  of  the  first  week 
exactly  the  volume  of  work  passing  out  through  their 
hands.  We  can  tell  with  considerable  accuracy 
whether  the  apprentice  will  be  retained  or  dismissed. 

The  investigation  undertaken  by  the  Board  of  Edu- 
cation deals  with  the  child  from  the  educational  point 
of  view,  attempting  to  ascertain  the  degree  of  efficiency 
carried  from  school  life  into  industry  and  the  pros- 
pect for  future  advancement.  It  covers  the  period 
from  September  1913,  to  September  1914.  The  mini- 
mum wage  law  went  into  effect  June  27,  1914.  It 
deals  with  the  cost  of  living,  the  hours  of  service  and 
the  physical  and  moral  surroundings  of  employees. 

From  the  dates  above  it  will  be  seen  that  nearly  ten 
months  of  the  year  given  to  the  school  study  had 
elapsed  before  the  first  ruling  of  the  commission  be- 
came effective,  but  the  influence  of  the  law  was  appre- 
ciable in  the  school  office  as  soon  as  it  had  become  a 


84  Seattle  Children  in  School  and  in  Industry. 

certainty.  The  usual  foresight  of  business  houses  in 
anticipating  legislative  effect  was  not  lacking  in  this 
instance  and  the  problem  of  adjustment  to  the  new 
legislation  was  well  on  toward  solution  before  the 
law  became  effective.  It  is  legitimate,  therefore,  to 
say  that  our  study,  our  educational  facts  and  conclu- 
sions have  been  influenced  to  some  extent  by  the  mini- 
mum wage  law  during  about  six  months  of  the  period 
covered.  This  influence  was  not  apparent  so  much  in 
the  wage  scale  as  in  loss  of  position  due  to  reorganiza- 
tion of  the  working  force.  These  facts  have  tended  to 
make  our  study  somewhat  more  complicated  although 
much  more  interesting  and  more  beneficial,  we  trust, 
to  both  educator  and  student  of  social  legislation.* 

The  first  immediate  result  of  the  attempt  to  estab- 
lish a  uniform  wage  scale  based  on  the  cost  of  living 
was  loss  of  position  for  large  numbers  of  Seattle 
workers  of  all  ages  who  were  near  the  border  line  of 
incompetency.  The  business  men  of  Seattle  who,  prior 
to  the  enactment  of  this  law,  had  carried  on  their  pay 
rolls  scores  of  "industrial  boarders"  were  now  com- 
pelled by  law  to  establish  a  uniform  standard  of 
efficiency  to  correspond  to  a  uniform  wage  standard. 
The  weeks  following  the  passage  of  the  law  were  weeks 
of  experimental  readjustment  and  constant  shifting  of 
positions.  Dozens  of  sub-averages  were  thrown  out  of 
employment,  but  in  spite  of  many  prophecies  to  the 
contrary,  no  one  age  or  class  of  women  workers  bore 
xhe  brunt  of  this  industrial  reorganization.    This  office 

•  Our  study  of  "Telephone  Operating  as  an  Occupation  for  Girls" 
was  completed  early  in  May,  1914,  and  an  outline  of  the  same  published 
for  the  benefit  of  school  girls  who  were  considering  entering  this  occu- 
pation during  the  summer  months.  Telephone  operating  is  a  semi- 
skilled occupation.  We  found  a  graduated  wage  scale  well  calculated 
to  encourage  efficiency  and  permanency  and  an  excellent  sick  benefit, 
pension  and  insurance  system.  The  ruling  of  the  Wage  Commission, 
effective  in  September,  has  forced  an  entire  reorganization  of  the  system 
giving  all  the  advantage  to  the  beginner  and  discouraging  efficiency  and 
permanency.  Before  our  complete  study  is  published  it  will  have  to 
be  revised  as  it  is  already  out  of  date.  Doubtless  we  shall  not  under- 
take this  for  several  months  as  we  sincerely  hope  that  the  Wage  Com- 
mission, with  more  experience  and  a  better  understanding  of  the  char- 
acter of  the  system,  will  call  another  conference  for  the  modification  of 
the  present  orders. 


Seattle  Children  in  School  and  in  Industry.  85 

was  besieged  by  all  ages  of  female  workers,  by  the 
young  who  were  in  need  of  training,  by  the  old  whose 
usefulness  was  waning  but  whose  children  were  de- 
pendent upon  their  employment,  by  the  slow  who 
had  failed  to  acquire  speed,  as  well  as  by  the  girl  of 
ability  whose  gravest  fault  was  lack  of  the  maturity 
of  judgment  so  essential  to  success  in  certain  occupa- 
tions.* The  age  of  the  victim  has  depended  almost 
entirely  upon  the  character  of  employment  and  the 
essentials  of  successful  service.  It  is  one  problem  for 
the  laundry  worker,  a  second  problem  for  the  depart- 
ment store  employee,  a  third  for  the  telephone  oper- 
ator and  a  fourth  for  the  factory  worker.  No  one  has 
yet  taken  a  census  of  the  "scrap  heap."  Possibly  we 
have  come  as  near  to  it  as  any  institution  because 
of  the  fact  that  throughout  the  entire  summer  our 
attention  was  called  to  the  effect  of  the  law  every  day, 
and  oftentimes  every  hour  of  the  day. 

A  few  individual  cases  have  been  selected  as  indi- 
cative of  the  type  of  problems  which  have  been  brought 
to  our  attention  by  those  who  have  sought  our  advice. 

M.,  age  17,  the  oldest  in  a  family  of  11  children, 
had  been  employed  in  a  factory  at  $4.50  to  $5.50, 
piece  work.  Lost  her  position  in  July.  Applied 
to  the  school  office  for  advice.  Has  been  placed 
in  five  different  positions  and  been  discharged 
from  all.  After  careful  consideration  of  the  girl's 
ability,  the  character  of  the  various  positions  held, 
and  reports  from  her  employers  as  to  the  causes  of 

*  Advice  regarding  vocational  opportunities  and  placement  in  in- 
dustry for  our  own  school  children  has  been  our  main  interest.  At  no 
time  have  we  attempted  the  functions  of  an  employment  bureau.  Un- 
employed men  and  women  frequently  ask  for  school  leaving  permits  for 
children  because  they,  or  their  older  children,  are  without  work.  Where 
it  has  been  possible  to  aid  the  adult  worker  and  thus  keep  the  child  in 
school  we  have  gladly  done  so. 

A  considerable  number  of  young  women  who,  attracted  by  the 
minimum  wage,  have  come  to  Seattle  from  outside  the  State  have  ap- 
plied at  the  office  for  placement,  and  have  offered  remuneration  if  we 
would  use  our  influence  to  secure  positions.  We  do  not  refuse  to  give 
vocational  information  to  any  who  seek  it,  but  we  have  not  considered 
it  within  our  province  to  make  personal  effort  for  others  than  our  Seattle 
girls  and  boys. 


86  Seattle  Children  in  School  and  in  Industry. 

failure,  we  believe  this  girl  to  be  incapable,  with- 
out special  training,  of  earning  the  minimum 
wage. 


Mrs.  S.,  deserted  by  her  husband,  has  six  chil- 
dren, all  under  15  years  of  age.  It  has  been  im- 
possible to  place  either  mother  or  child.  The 
mother  is  too  old  and  too  untrained  for  the  adult 
minimum,  the  child  too  young  and  too  untrained 
for  the  $6  minimum. 


Miss  B.,  age  22,  an  employee  of  one  of  our 
stores  for  some  time,  honest  and  loyal  but  never 
very  competent,  had  received  $8  prior  to  estab- 
lishment of  minimum  of  $10.  Lost  her  position 
and  has  been  without  work  for  several  months. 
Kecently  returned  to  same  firm  and  begged  for 
position  back  at  $8.  The  law  was  explained  and 
as  tears  rolled  down  her  cheeks  she  cried  out, 
" the  minimum  wage  or  any  law  that  re- 
fuses me  a  chance  to  earn  my  living." 


C,  age  16,  has  two  sisters,  18  and  19  years  of 
age.  They  were  employed  in  department  stores 
at  $8.50  and  $9.00  respectively  and  had  promised 
the  younger  sister  a  chance  to  go  through  the 
high  school.  Both  older  girls  are  unemployed 
and  the  younger  sister  has  left  school  and  ac- 
cepted a  position  at  $6.00. 


D.,  a  high  school  graduate,  had  been  encouraged 
to  complete  her  course  on  the  promise  of  entering 
employment  more  advantageously  after  gradua- 
tion. She  was  obliged  to  take  laundry  work  at 
the  same  wage  as  the  girl  who  had  not  completed 
grammar  school. 


Seattle  Children  in  School  and  in  Industry.  87 

C,  age  14,  has  had  trouble  with  his  eyes,  and 
is  temporarily  unfitted  for  study.  A  small 
grocery  store  will  employ  him  at  $3.50  per  week 
and  lunches.  The  child  made  application  for  a 
permit  to  accept  the  same.  When  the  employer 
learned  that  the  wage  was  fixed  by  law,  he  re- 
fused to  give  employment  and  the  boy  is  unable 
to  secure  any  work  for  which  he  is  physically 
fitted  at  the  $6.00  minimum.  His  home  is  a 
shack  on  the  beach,  the  family  are  very  poor  and 
the  child  is  wasting  his  time  unemployed. 


S.,  B.,  M.  and  A.,  all  high  school  girls,  17  years 
of  age,  employed  for  the  summer  as  "shakers  out" 
in  a  laundry  in  order  to  earn  sufficient  to  provide 
clothing  for  their  next  school  year.  All  four  re- 
ported loss  of  position  to  the  office  the  same  day, 
just  one  week  before  the  laundry  minimum  became 
effective.  Boys  13  and  14  years  of  age  received 
labor  permits  to  fill  the  vacant  positions. 


Mrs.  H.,  a  deserted  wife  with  two  children 
whom  the  writer  placed  about  three  years  ago, 
has  been  making  a  brave  effort  to  give  both  chil- 
dren a  complete  grammar  school  education.  She 
entered  upon  her  work  entirely  untrained  and 
was  not  a  very  desirable  worker.  Sympathy  for 
the  woman  played  a  considerable  part  in  her  em- 
ployment and  she  was  receiving  $9.00.  Lost  her 
position  and  was  unable  to  find  anything  at  the 
adult  minimum.  The  oldest  boy,  who  has  never 
been  absent  nor  tardy  and  who  lacks  three 
months  of  grammar  school  graduation,  has  been 
forced  to  leave  school. 


The  second  immediate  effect  of  the  minimum  wage 
has  been  the  difficulty  experienced  by  beginning  work- 
ers in  securing  opportunities  of  any  kind  in  the  in- 


88  Seattle  Children  in  School  and  in  Industry. 

dustrial  world.  This  is  the  more  important  result  in 
connection  with  our  public  school  system  because  it 
places  upon  it,  as  it  were,  responsibility  for  fitting  its 
charges  to  become  efficient  factors  of  the  economic  age 
in  which  they  live.  Responsibility  for  the  "industrial 
boarder"  of  the  future  is  placed  upon  society  unless 
through  its  system  of  public  education  it  can  entirely 
eradicate  the  sub-average  worker.  More  than  this,  not 
only  must  the  school  system  raise  the  standard  of 
efficiency  for  the  future  worker,  but  it  must  offer  to 
those  who  have  retained  their  positions,  opportunities 
in  evening  schools  for  continued  progress.  Mercantile 
stores  have  already  asked  for  this  class  of  assistance 
for  their  employees  and  the  demand  was  responded  to 
by  the  Board  of  Education. 

Classes  in  mercantile  efficiency,  to  which  none  but 
bona  fide  mercantile  employees  were  admitted,  were 
established  October  1,  1914.  Employees  have  not  taken 
very  much  interest  in  the  classes,  and  unless  attend- 
ance increases  it  will  probably  be  advisable  to  dis- 
continue evening  continuation  work  and  substitute 
day  classes  in  part  time  schools  for  unemployed  girls. 

Our  study  convinces  us  that  there  is  a  ceaseless  hunt 
for  talent  in  almost  every  occupation.  The  most 
pressing  task  of  employers  is  to  find  and  keep  those 
who  can  be  promoted,  and  in  general  there  is  plenty 
of  opportunity  for  those  who  are  qualified  to  do  a 
line  of  work  which  the  world  needs  and  who  are 
willing  to  do  it. 

One  hesitates  at  this  time  to  attempt  to  foretell 
what  may  be  the  ultimate  outcome  of  this  legislation 
because  so  much  depends  upon  the  wisdom  and  intel- 
ligence of  the  wage  boards,  and  upon  the  support  of 
public  opinion.  We  shall  have  taken  a  long  step  in 
the  solution  of  this  problem  if  we  can  realize  that 
the  work  of  wage  boards  must  go  hand  in  hand  with 
the  work  of  school  boards;  that  the  work  of  school 


Seattle  Children  in  School  and  in  Industry.  89 

boards  must  go  hand  in  hand  with  the  work  of  busi- 
ness boards;  that  the  teacher  supervisor  must  co- 
operate with  the  factory  and  the  mercantile  super- 
visor; that  learners  must  always  be  subsidized  by 
someone  until  they  are  able  to  earn  a  living  wage, 
and  that  children  who  enter  industry  must  be  fitted 
to  do  the  work  which  industry  demands  in  the  way 
that  industry  says,  rather  than  to  do  the  work  of 
their  unguided  preference  according  to  the  methods  of 
their  choice.  The  net  result  of  this  law  for  the  pres- 
ent is  the  unemployment  of  those  who  cannot  in 
quantity  and  quality  of  work  measure  up  to  the  mini- 
mum wage  standard. 

This  brings  us  to  the  question  of  unemployment  and 
the  extent  to  which  responsibility  for  the  making  of  un- 
employables  may  be  placed  upon  our  educational  sys- 
tem. 


SECTION   V. 

State  School  and  Child  Labor  Laws  and  the 
Making  of  Unemployable*. 


SECTION  V. 

State  School  and  Child  Labor  Laws  and  the 
Making  of  Unemployables. 

We  have  shown  in  a  previous  section  that  not  over 
40  per  cent  leave  school  because  of  economic  necessity 
and  that  many  who  remain  would  not  do  so  unless 
compelled  by  law.  We  have  shown  also  that  our  state 
law  requires  children  between  the  ages  of  15  and  16 
years,  who  have  not  completed  the  eighth  grade,  to 
be  either  in  school  or  at  work,  but  makes  it  especially 
difficult  to  enforce  the  law  because  labor  permits  are 
issued  to  the  child  rather  than  to  the  employer.  Un- 
der our  law  it  is  not  uncommon  to  find  young  children 
who  either  have  or  have  not  completed  the  grammar 
school  both  out  of  work  and  out  of  school.  They  may 
lose  or  give  up  a  position  and  take  with  them  when 
leaving  their  labor  permit,  and  as  has  been  stated 
before  there  is  no  uniform  legal  method  by  which 
attendance  officers  are  informed  of  such  facts. 

Our  statistics  throw  considerable  light  on  the  evils 
of  the  present  system.  Of  the  402  boys  and  girls 
who  left  our  grammar  schools  in  1913-1914,  67,  or  17 
per  cent  of  the  whole,  had  had  no  employment  at  the 
date  of  our  visit  nor  was  employment  in  sight  when 
they  left  school.  The  high  school  pupils  who  entered 
industry  had  been  idle  on  an  average  of  one-fourth  of 
the  time  covering  a  period  of  six  months.  During  the 
months  of  January  and  February,  1914,  the  writer 
knew  personally  of  614  girls  under  21  years  of  age 
who  were  unemployed,  and  whose  applications  were 
on  file  in  five  or  six  different  business  houses.  Some 
of  these  girls  had  tried  a  number  of  different  occupa- 
tions and  still  had  given  no  serious  thought  to  the 
subject  of  vocational  efficiency.    While  visiting  homes 


94  Seattle  Children  in  School  and  in  Industry. 

we  found  214  unemployed  girls  and  189  unemployed 
boys.  Only  three  of  the  214  girls  were  doing  any- 
thing for  self-improvement  although  a  large  number 
admitted  that  loss  of  position  was  due  to  incompe- 
tency.* 

During  the  last  two  months,  September  and  October, 
1914,  we  have  had  calls  from  39  girls  under  19  years 
of  age  who  have  been  out  of  school  for  some  time  but 
are  untrained  for  any  useful  work  and  have  done 
nothing  since  leaving  school  to  improve  either  their 
economic  or  intellectual  status.  During  the  same  two 
months,  43  boys  between  the  ages  of  15  and  18  have 
called,  and  26  more  have  been  reported  as  "idlers"  by 
parents  who  hoped  that  we  might  use  some  influence 
to  keep  them  at  work. 

As  a  result  of  the  present  state  education  law, 
children  unhindered  and  uncontrolled  enter  upon  a 
career  of  drifting  which  tends  to  create  an  army  of 
misfits,  unfits  and  unemployables.  Not  only  is  the 
individual  harmed,  but  there  is  also  a  great  social 
and  economic  loss  to  the  community.  In  too  many 
instances  we  "buy  the  milk  of  education  at  great  cost, 
mourn  the  cost  and  end  by  spilling  the  milk."  It  is 
the  tabulated  effects  of  this  neglect  of  the  working 
child  during  his  most  critical  years  which  has  aroused 
us  to  realization  of  the  fact  that  close  relation  be- 
tween the  elementary  school  and  industry  is  far  more 
vital  to  the  ultimate  welfare  of  society  than  is  a  cor- 
respondingly close  relation  between  the  secondary 
school  and  the  college.  It  is  far  less  important  to 
follow  the  child  to  college  and  the  professions  than 
to  apprenticeship  and  industry.  Municipalities,  states 
and  nations  are  awakening  to  the  fact  that  we  can 
no  longer  issue  a  labor  permit  to  a  child,  who  because 
of  economic   necessity   or   childish   preference   leaves 

•  This  class  of  unemployed  might  be  Induced  to  attend  an  un- 
graded day  school  such  as  was  mentioned  on  page  73  or  If  under  18 
might  be  forced  to  do  so  by  law. 


Seattle  Children  in  School  and  in  Industry.  95 

school,  and  then  forget  that  there  is  such  a  child 
until  he  is  sentenced  by  our  courts  to  become  a  perm- 
anent charge  on  society.  This  is  the  problem  of  our 
investigation:  Shall  society  through  the  educational 
system  give  a  helping  hand  to  these  children  as  they 
start  out  on  their  industrial  career,  and  shall  a  serious 
and  concerted  effort  be  made  to  prevent  the  industrial 
and  social  waste  resulting  from  random  choice  of 
jobs  and  the  early  formation  of  "Vocational  Hoboes"? 

The  years  between  14  and  18  are  the  years  of  edu- 
cational loss.  If  the  public  investment  for  children 
up  to  14  years  is  to  make  good,  must  not  the  schools 
find  some  way  to  hold  on  to  them  during  the  next 
two  or  three  years? 

If  these  questions  be  answered  in  the  affirmative,  it 
then  becomes  the  second  object  of  our  investigation 
to  suggest  what  can  be  done  to  establish  a  closer  and 
more  profitable  relation  between  school  and  industry. 


SECTION  VI. 
Conclusions  and  Recommendations. 


SECTION  VI. 

Conclusions  and  Recommendations. 

Conclusions. 

Briefly  stated,  the  fundamental  facts  secured  from 
the  investigation  are: 

1.  There  are  two  main  reasons  which  have  not 
changed  much  in  five  years  for  school  leaving — eco- 
nomic pressure  and  dissatisfaction.  The  latter  plays 
the  more  important  part  and  carried  over  into  business 
life  is  a  serious  handicap  in  success.  Our  conclusions 
in  this  respect  are  similar  to  those  of  other  cities. 

2.  Department  stores  and  offices  are  receiving  the 
largest  percentage  of  our  young  girls,  messenger  serv- 
ice and  offices  the  largest  percentage  of  boys.  Two  of 
these  employments  offer  opportunities  for  rise  and 
development  superior  to  almost  any  other  occupations 
receiving  children.  The  contrary  is  the  case  in  the 
child  employing  industries  in  most  of  our  eastern 
cities. 

3.  Occupational  instability  is  a  universal  and  a 
serious  problem.  It  is  increasingly  common  from  14 
to  18  years  of  age  and  contributes  its  full  share  to- 
ward creating  an  army  of  unemployables. 

4.  Wasted  time  and  irregular  financial  returns  are 
the  outgrowth  of  the  above  and  lead  to  great  economic 
and  social  waste. 

5.  The  initial  wage  scale  is  higher  in  Seattle  than 
in  any  other  city  reporting  along  similar  lines.  Here- 
tofore it  has  increased  according  to  the  age,  ability 
and  educational  status  of  the  child.  The  minimum 
wage  law  is  tending  to  give  equal  remuneration  to  all 
without  reference  to  qualifications,  but  is  aiso  tend- 


100         Seattle  Children  in  School  and  in  Industry. 

ing  to  eliminate  from  service  many  who  under  the  old 
conditions  were  receiving  the  lowest  wage. 

6.  Occupational  efficiency  is  not  what  it  should  be, 
nor  is  it  by  any  means  commensurate  with  the  wage 
established  by  law. 

7.  The  greatest  handicaps  in  securing  and  retain- 
ing positions  are  lack  of  thorough  training  in  the 
fundamentals  of  academic  education,  failure  to  under- 
stand the  importance  of  personal  responsibility  and 
neglect  of  supplemental  study  upon  which  future 
progress  depends. 

8.  School  leaving  permits  are  granted  on  much 
higher  educational  requirements  and  much  closer  fin- 
ancial margin  than  in  other  states.  In  Seattle  fifty- 
eight  school-leaving-labor  permits  have  been  granted 
on  a  total  elementary  school  enrollment  of  30,016. 
This  is  one-sixth  of  one  per  cent  of  the  total.  Cin- 
cinnati reports  3  per  cent  of  the  elementary  enroll- 
ment granted  the  same  class  of  permits. 

9.  Although  occupational  incompetency  is  a  com- 
mon complaint,  the  character  of  Seattle  occupations 
is  such  that  we  have  found  nothing  in  our  study  to 
indicate  that  trade  schools  would  serve  a  useful  pur- 
pose in  our  community.  Training  for  occupational 
efficiency,  in  part  time  or  continuation  schools,  would 
be  useful  to  the  child,  to  business  and  to  society. 

Recommendations. 
I.  For  Legislative  Action: 

(1)  That  our  Compulsory  Attendance  Law  be  so 
amended  that  all  children  who  have  not  completed  the 
eighth  grade  shall  be  obliged  to  attend  school  until 
they  are  16  years  of  age,  unless  granted  school  leaving 
permits. 

(2)  That  the  present  provision  requiring  children 
either  to  be  at  work  or  to  attend  school  be  retained 


Seattle  Children  in  School  and  in  Industry.  101 


with  the  age  limit  raised  from  16  to  18  years.  This 
would  provide  educational  supervision  for  all  children 
up  to  18  years  of  age,  whether  in  school  or  in  industry, 
and  if  a  follow-up  system  were  established,  it  would 
overcome  many  evils  of  our  present  system. 

(3)  That  our  Child  Labor  Law  be  amended  so  that 
labor  permits  be  issued  in  duplicate  and  employers  be 
required  to  return  their  copy  to  the  issuing  office 
whenever  the  child  concerned  leaves  their  service. 
Permits  should  be  re-issued  for  each  change  in  position. 
In  this  way  attendance  officers  would  be  able  to  en- 
force the  law  absolutely  and  the  beginning  of  de- 
linquency would  be  more  easily  detected  and  checked. 

II.  For  the  Educational  System: 

(1)  That  some  system  be  devised  whereby  a  closer 
relation  may  be  established  between  the  work  of  the 
attendance  office,  the  evening  schools  and  the  indus- 
trial life  of  our  children.  The  experience  of  the  past 
year  indicates  that  no  one  of  these  departments  can 
attain  its  greatest  efficiency  without  the  co-operation 
of  the  others. 

(2)  That  a  course  in  mercantile  efficiency  be  of- 
fered in  the  commercial  department  of  one  of  our 
high  schools,  or  in  more  than  one  if  necessary.  That 
this  course  be  organized  along  the  lines  of  a  part  time 
school  combining  the  theoretical  and  academic  instruc- 
tion essential  to  efficiency  with  practical  experience 
in  counter  sales.  The  department  handling  this  course 
should  keep  in  close  touch  with  business  houses  so 
that  over  supply  in  proportion  to  the  demand  may  be 
avoided.  Very  valuable  suggestions  for  the  organiza- 
tion of  such  a  course  have  been  secured  from  Seattle 
and  other  cities  and  are  on  file  in  the  office. 

(3)  That  trade  training  in  sewing  be  offered  in  one 
of  our  high  schools.  Several  very  fine  young  girls 
have  completed  our  present  high  school  course  in 
sewing  only  to  be  refused  trade  positions  because  they 


102         Seattle  Children  in  School  and  in  Industry. 


could  not  handle  a  power  machine.  This  need  not 
be  an  expensive  proposition  and  we  believe,  from  the 
facts  ascertained,  would  bring  good  return  on  the 
investment.  It  would  probably  require  lengthening 
the  school  day  for  trade  students  and  the  installation 
of  one  power  machine.* 

(4)  That  training  for  domestic  service  as  a  pro- 
fession be  encouraged  in  the  elementary  schools  and 
that  day  continuation  schools  for  young  girls  who 
have  entered  such  service  be  maintained.  We  have 
secured  an  abundance  of  information  on  domestic 
service  which  will  be  classified  for  publication  later, 
but  which  could  be  used  in  its  present  form  for  as- 
certaining our  immediate  needs  and  the  best  methods 
of  organization. 

(5)  That  part  time  schools  be  established  as  occa- 
sion arises,  or  part  time  attendance  be  permitted  for 
those  individuals  whose  industrial  choice  indicates  the 
advantage  of  combined  academic  knowledge  and  prac- 
tical experience.  Part  time  schools  should  have  in- 
dustrial supervisors  who  act  as  a  connecting  link  be- 
tween school  and  industry.  If  legislation  is  needed 
in  order  for  part  time  pupils  to  draw  their  full  share 
of  the  state  appropriation,  this  should  be  included 
under  "legislative  recommendations." 

(6)  Organization  for  the  winter  months  of  an 
ungraded  school  for  the  benefit  of  students  mentioned 
on  page  94. 

(7)  The  present  prevocational  schools  are  interest- 
ing and  holding  many  children  who  otherwise  would 
drop  out.  Parents  are  uniformly  pleased  with  the 
results  and  a  large  number  of  boys  and  girls,  for 
whom  there  is  no  room,  have  expressed  a  desire  to 

J  *  Information  has  been  secured  regarding  the  cost  of  a  power 
i  machine  and  also  regarding  the  cost  of  an  electrical  attachment  for  the 
ordinary  machine.  In  some  factory  lines,  previous  experience  in  ma- 
chine operating  is  not  required:  in  others,  especially  since  the  minimum 
wage  became  effective,  it  is  essential.  We  have  investigated  the  subject 
sufficiently  to  feel  that,  for  the  present  at  least,  one  machine  would  be 
sufficient  for  the  city  system. 


Seattle  Children  in  School  and  in  Industry.  103 

attend.     Increasing  provision  for  this  type  of  school 
would  seem  to  be  desirable. 

(8)  The  collection  and  dissemination  of  vocational 
information  for  the  benefit  of  parents,  teachers  and 
children  and  for  the  purpose  of  ascertaining  when 
and  how  the  schools  can  co-operate  with  industry  in 
increasing  the  efficiency  of  the  child.  If  further 
expansion  of  vocational  service  is  approved,  the  fol- 
lowing methods  are  suggested  as  the  result  of  our 
experimental  efforts  during  the  year: 

(a)  That  parents  and  children  be  encouraged 
to  consult  with  teachers  regarding  their  occupa- 
tional interests.  That  they  be  asked  to  notify 
teachers  as  soon  as  possible  when  it  becomes  nec- 
essary to  leave  in  order  that  the  schools  may  co- 
operate with  them  in  studying  their  individual 
needs  and  abilities  relative  to  the  character  of  the 
various  positions  obtainable. 

(b)  That  a  follow-up  system  be  inaugurated 
whereby  the  schools  may  be  informed  of  the 
child's  progress  in  industry  and  his  educational 
record  be  supplemented  by  the  record  of  his  in- 
dustrial efficiency.  Records  of  this  class  should 
include  changes  in  position,  increase  in  wages, 
causes  of  failure,  qualities  leading  to  success,  ef- 
forts for  supplemental  education,  suggestions 
from  employers  and  many  other  items. 

(c)  The  system  suggested  on  page  65  would 
greatly  increase  the  efficiency  of  our  public  serv- 
ice. 


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